Alone Together
by EchoResonance
Summary: Some things can never be because they interfere with a greater destiny, a future written out that one can't change...and then there's this asshole
1. A Tiny Pond

Rain was pouring down outside, creating miniature lakes and rivers on the streets and running off of the peaked roofs like a waterfall that encompassed every building individually. Lightning cracked across the sky, and half a second later, a clap of thunder sounded, shaking the walls of the air temple and sending a certain fire ferret scurrying for cover, his tail bushed up to twice its usual size. The ocean beat against the tall cliffs on all sides of the island furiously, seafoam spraying twenty feet or more into the air. The few unfortunate souls caught out in the downpour were hurrying frantically for the nearest possible shelter, pulling their jackets over their heads and bowing their shoulders against the water.

Inside the temple, however, fires blazed and candles flickered, emanating all the warmth and comfort of home and making the world outside seem like nothing more than fantasy. The young Airbenders were fast asleep, curled up together on the hearth rug next to a massive, snowy white polarbear dog. Their parents were sitting on cushions nearby, their mother cradling her newborn infant to her breast and smiling softly while their father appeared to be dozing off while sitting upright, though if you asked him he would say he was simply meditating. Air acolytes were bustling about inside the temple, carrying on tirelessly with their chores even if they took them outside.

A slim young woman came into the main room, her ebony hair tied back in preparation for sleep and her face unusually free of make-up. Her green eyes were hazy from the wear and tear of the day, but she looked around concernedly.

"Have you seen Korra anywhere, Tenzin?" she asked.

The older man looked up, his bald head gleaming in the candlelight and threatening to blind the newcomer, who had to squint to make out his stern expression.

"Korra?" he repeated. "No, I haven't seen her. Is she not in her room?"

The woman shook her head. "No, she isn't."

Tenzin sighed and ran a tired hand over his face. "Where could she have gone now?"

"I don't know," said the woman concernedly, looking out of the window at the raging storm. "But I'm worried. With the weather like this…"

"I'm sure that Korra's fine, Asami," said the woman holding the infant, smiling reassuringly. "She can take care of herself."

Asami gave the woman a small smile and sighed. "Yeah, you're probably right. Sorry to worry you guys."

"Goodnight, Asami," said Tenzin.

"Sweet dreams," the woman added.

"Thanks, Pema," said Asami. "And goodnight, Tenzin."

She turned and disappeared down the hall from which she had come, eager to reach her bedroom and get some much-needed rest. With her out of the room, Tenzin and Pema turned to look at each other.

"Where's Mako?" Tenzin said hesitantly.

"He should be in his room," sighed Pema. "They're probably fighting. Again."

"What am I going to do with those two?" Tenzin groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose between his fingers.

"There's nothing you can do," his wife said sternly. "This is something that they have to work through themselves."

"Yes…" he said reluctantly. "I suppose you're right."

Pema smiled at him and then turned her attention back to her baby, stroking the little tuft of dark hair on his round head, but Tenzin looked down the hallway opposite the one Asami had traversed as though he could see the young mens' room through the walls of the temple. He was growing weary of the elder brother's relationship with Korra, and though logically he knew that Korra was quite likely to bear just as much blame as the Firebender, Tenzin found himself focusing solely on the boy's guilt. Perhaps it was his predisposition to side with Korra, as he had all but adopted her as his own child, but he managed to skillfully gloss over many of the problems that she took part in causing.

Down that hallway, out a door to a covered path, and into the next building over, a young man was snoring loudly in bed, a puddle of drool dripping from his open mouth. Across the hall, a man slightly older than the snorer was sitting in his boxers on his own bed and tearing great handfuls of ebony hair from his head in frustration. A candle on his nightstand flared unnaturally high, illuminating a framed photograph of two people smiling cheerfully in the Republic City park. The first face was his own, though he was wearing a fair bit more clothing than he was presently, including a scarlet scarf that was wrapped loosely around his neck, and his hair was spiked up carefully in the front. Next to him and almost a head shorter was a young, dark-skinned woman with shockingly blue eyes and dark brown hair pulled out of her face by traditional Water Tribe hair spools. She was wearing a high-necked, pale blue top and baggy, dark blue pants. An animal pelt was wrapped around her waist, and matching tan boots encased her feet. She wore indigo bracers on her forearms and a patterned band on her right bicep.

"This isn't my fault!" Mako said out loud, raking a hand through what was left of his hair and turning to glower at the photograph. "It's not my fault she takes everything so personally!"

But then why did he feel so bad? The answer was easy. After she had stormed off-and after he had said some admittedly unkind things-she'd vanished from the Air Temple without a trace, and she still hadn't returned when they were preparing for bed. It was only natural to be concerned, and since she had left because of him, he would have been hard-pressed to not feel at least a _little_ bit guilty.

"Ugh," he groaned, flopping back on his bed. He wasn't likely to sleep tonight, but there wouldn't be much point in going to look for Korra if he left; she was hard to track down if she didn't want to be found, and it wasn't like he could follow Naga's footprints. She's left her polarbear dog behind after all. Plus, even if he could find her by some miracle, it wasn't likely that Mako could talk some sense into her and convince her to come home. He rolled onto his side and stared at the wall of his room sullenly, that candle flame still growing with his agitation.

He fisted his eyes furiously until spots of color began to explode in his vision, but nothing came of it save a throbbing ache in his temples. He squeezed his eyes tightly in the hopes that he could force sleep to take him, but cutting off his sense of sight just strengthened the awareness of his other senses. The storm outside sounded louder, his blankets felt rougher, and his nose was twitching against the sour smell of smoke.

His eyes flew open. Smoke? What the hell was smoking? Mako sat bolt upright and looked around wildly, letting out a loud oath when he realized that the candle flame had risen high enough to for the curtains to catch it. Fire was now slowly licking up the dry fabric. He leapt out of bed and lunged for the curtains, knocking something off of his nightstand as he hastily patted the fire out with his hands. He only stepped back when he was sure that the curtains, though burned, were in no more danger of injury, and looked around for what he had knocked over. It was the silver picture frame. With a sigh he crouched down to pick it up and flipped it around, groaning frustratedly. The glass had cracked and splintered in the middle, obscuring the place where their shoulders touched and fracturing the space between their ears.

Across the boiling gray waters that separated Air Temple Island from Republic City, a lone young woman was sitting on a park bench, muscular arms sprawled across the back of it. Her face was turned up toward the sky, eyes closed against the fat raindrops that fell relentlessly. She'd left her jacket in her room on Air Temple Island, but she didn't really needed; she enjoyed the rain, and it wasn't anywhere near as cold as the South Pole. In any case, she wasn't ready to go back there and face her idiot of a boyfriend.

Naga had been quite put out when Korra told her to stay, but the polarbear dog was safer at the temple, and Korra had come all the way out here to be alone. She knew that any number of people would have been willing to talk about her latest issue with Mako, but she didn't really want to talk. She wasn't even sure she knew what was wrong herself. She liked Mako. She _really_ liked Mako, and she thought that she loved him, but did people in love fight as often as the two of them? It was ridiculous-they were fighting more often than not, and it was emotionally draining. It hadn't affected their bending yet, but Korra felt certain it was only a matter of time.

She heaved a sigh and leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees and looking around the deserted park. The streetlights were out because of the lightning causing intense electrical surges and the rain was coming down so hard that it seemed like a solid wall of water, so she could only see accurately a few yards in any direction, but this didn't bother her. If she wanted, she could bend the water away from her and conjure up some fire, but she didn't feel like doing that. She was pretty much guaranteed to be alone out here in the middle of a raging thunderstorm that was in the process of turning the roads into rivers.

Truthfully, she figured she had overreacted somewhat to Mako's comments, but she stubbornly clung to her belief that he should have at least been nicer about the things he had to say. She knew she had screwed up with the press again, and she knew that there were still a lot of people wanting their bending back, but he was taking the public's side, telling her that she was just being lazy and she needed to try harder. As if she wasn't putting every waking moment into hunting down the victims of the Equalists already!

"Uuuugh," she groaned, running a hand over her soaking wet hair. It was falling out of her wolf tails, but she didn't feel like taking her hair spools out or fixing the style. She wasn't out here to impress anybody.

Without any real goal in mind, she rose to her feet and began a lazy stroll, thumbs hooked into the pelt wrapped around her hips. Her feet carried her in a beeline to the turtle-duck pond, though there was nary a turtle-duck to be seen. They were all smart enough to hide from the bad weather. The surface of the pond was in constant movement from the hundreds of droplets slamming repeatedly into the surface and sending angry ripples to meet other equally angry ripples. The small pool had risen several inches over where it normally sat, the rainfall filling it and threatening to send it overflowing onto the ground surrounding it. The pond was being overwhelmed by the storm, too small to handle the copious amounts of water flooding it.

Korra lifted a hand and an invisible barrier erected itself in the air above the water and all around the pond, a little sphere through which the rain could not fall. Drops hit the wall of air and slid down to drown the grass instead, but Korra just watched as the pond slowly settled back to a calm, glassy state like it was most days. If only her own problems could be paused so easily. But then, she hadn't even really done the pond much good. The moment the sphere of air fell away, all the rainwater would continue to add to the already overwhelmed pool until at last it overflowed.

With a sigh, she lowered her hand. Rain returned to pounding into the little pond as though the barrier had never existed, and Korra turned to walk away, alone, to some other equally dark destination. However, when she turned around, she found that she was not quite alone at all.

"Lookin' kinda lonely there, Uh-vatar."

**_R&R everybody! I would love to hear what you think will happen next ;)_**


	2. Alone In The Storm

"Tahno!" Korra exclaimed, leaping back and ending up knee-deep in the pond. Her immediate reaction was to bend the hell out of him for scaring her like that, but that wasn't very mature and in any case, he hadn't truthfully done anything to deserve it. Yet.

He laughed at her response and slid his hands in his jacket pockets, his silver eyes glinting.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Korra demanded, climbing out of the pool and debating whether or not it would be worth the effort to bend the water out of her pants. She couldn't honestly tell if there was a difference between before she'd jumped in and after, so she figured she'd leave it alone. Her clothes would just absorb more rain anyway.

"Could ask you the same thing," he noted cooly, nodding at her sodden state. "You look like a drowned fire ferret. How fitting."

"Shut up," she snapped, making to shoulder past him, but he stepped into her path.

"You're a long way from home, Uh-vatar," he prompted. "The Air Temple's over across those nasty waves. What's wrong? Get stuck over here and you're too afraid to try and bend yourself across?"

"That's none of your business, Tahno," Korra snapped, trying to step around him again. He intercepted her. "And get out of my way!"

"Why?" he challenged. "You have somewhere you need to be looking like that?"

She scowled but said nothing. No, she obviously didn't have anywhere to be this late at night during a raging storm. She just wanted to get away from this creep.

"Didn't think so," he smirked. "A loser like you doesn't need to be anywhere."

A vein started pulsing in Korra's temple.

"Why are you here?" she said curtly.

"I'm bored," he said lazily. "And the park is just a block away from my flat. You still haven't told me why you're here, though."

She glowered up at him. "Why do you care, anyway?" she demanded.

He shrugged casually. "Just wondering why you left the herd of losers to be alone in your pitifulness."

"Your attitude came back with your bending, I see," she responded coldly.

Tahno's grin froze, then his face fell and he looked away, looking abruptly like a little kid.

"...About that…" he muttered, barely audible over a crash of thunder. He scuffed his heel in the mud and screwed up his face as though he had tasted something incredibly unpleasant-or maybe he had just gotten some of the mud into his shoe.

"Yeah?" she said, reluctantly curious about this sudden change.

"I never...said…" he tried, sounding like he was struggling horribly to find the words he needed. "I never…"

"Yeah…?"

He glanced over at her, scowling.

"I never thanked you," he said at last, still glowering balefully. He clearly hated feeling like he was in her debt. "For giving it back."

Korra blinked.

"...You're...welcome, Tahno," she said, startled.

"And for getting Amon," he continued, casting his eyes up toward the roiling purple clouds. "I didn't know if a wimp like you could actually pull it off."

Korra rolled her eyes, a new tick starting beneath her eye. "I promised I would, didn't I?"

Tahno snorted. "Yeah, well, that didn't mean you wouldn't lose trying, did it?"

"Yeah, it kind of did," Korra said heatedly. "Once I make a promise, I keep it!"

His eyebrow twitched upward and he glanced back at her, eyes flashing again. She realized with a start that he'd come out without eyeliner, though she supposed wearing eyeliner to come out in a torrential downpour would be kind of pointless.

"I'm starting to get that," the waterbender acknowledged.

Sure that this was the end of it, Korra made to step around Tahno for a third time, but he cut her off again.

"Would you _please _get out of my way?!" she snapped, winding up to clock him. He caught her fist before it came close to hitting his jaw and rolled his eyes.

"Again, where exactly are you going?" he asked. "You might as well stick with me."

"I came out here to be alone, idiot!" she snarled, wrenching her hand free and deciding whether she should try to hit him again or just put up with him until he got bored, which shouldn't take too long since the famous playboy WolfBat would hardly be entertained by a lame little Fire Ferret like her for very long in any case.

"Alone?" he repeated. "What about those other two lame-oes from your bending team?"

Korra scowled.

"One of them is the reason I'm out here in the first place," she grumbled.

His eyebrows rose higher on his forehead, and his lips started to curl upward.

"Not the fire kid?" he said, clearly enjoying this new twist. "I thought you two were all _in love_?"

Korra looked away, folding her arms self-consciously. "What's it got to do with you?"

Tahno leaned back, hands still in his pockets, and chuckled as he stepped aside.

"Even you fire rats can't stomach each other, eh?" he chortled, then gestured for Korra to walk. "Be my guest, Uh-vatar."

She eyed him cautiously and stepped out. He didn't move into her path, so she quickly moved past him, putting some much-needed distance between herself and the arrogant probender. However, as she stepped past him, he moved so that he was at her shoulder, walking a step behind her and to the right.

"What the hell, Tahno?" she demanded. "Leave me alone!"

"Go ahead and be alone," he encouraged her with a smirk. "Let's be alone together."

She glared, but that only made his smile grow.

"C'mon, Uh-vatar," he taunted. "I won't bite. Not hard, anyway."

"You piss me off," she spat.

"I'm not trying to make you feel all warm and fuzzy," he pointed out. "I'm just trying to have some fun."

"Cheating in the ring isn't fun enough for you?" Korra challenged.

Tahno's grin fell and pressed his lips into a line, his eyes darkening. "They took me off the team when I lost my bending, Korra. I haven't been in the ring since then."

She tilted her head to one side, confused.

"But you have your bending back," she pointed out. "You're saying they didn't take you back?"

"They replaced me right away," he said with a shake of his head. "I asked, but they weren't gonna kick the new kid to the curb just because I made a miraculous recovery."

Korra stared at him, then sighed. "I'm sorry, Tahno. That must suck."

"Eh, I'm over it," he said, stretching his arms up to the sky and then folding them behind his head. "I've got a lot more free time now, anyway."

"Obviously," Korra noted wryly. "That's why you're harassing me."

He looked over at her and then back to the sky. "I dunno. I might've even taken time out of a schedule to ruffle your feathers a little."

An old memory was brought to the forefront of Korra's mind after he said that. She was ten, and she was complaining to her parents over a dinner of cooked fish and some imported vegetables about this stupid boy at waterbending practice that kept dumping water over her head. He said it was an accident, but it happened way too often. Her parents had laughed, and her father had told her that if a boy was mean to her at their age, then he probably just had a crush on her.

Heat seared Korra's face and she turned on her heel, praying that it was too dark for Tahno to see the blush on her cheeks. He didn't have a _crush_ on her! Just the thought was repulsive!

"Aww, leaving so soon?" Tahno said to her back. "But we were having so much fun!"

"Your definition of fun must be different than mine," Korra said grumpily, cheeks still uncomfortably hot.

"Without a doubt," he agreed. "But don't tell me you aren't honestly enjoying yourself just a little."

"I'm…" Korra started with every intention of saying _not_, but the word stuck in her throat. She did kind of get a kick out of the heated conversations she could have with Tahno, ones where she wasn't worried about how someone might think of what she was saying. Tahno's view of her meant nothing to Korra, so she felt completely comfortable saying whatever she felt like saying, which was kind of refreshing in its own bizarre way.

Tahno smirked triumphantly, sensing her hesitation.

"Not even you can resist my charms, Uh-vatar," he jeered.

"Don't flatter yourself," Korra growled. "It's just nice talking to someone without caring what they think."

"Is it now?" Tahno mused. Korra frowned at him. "I'll keep that in mind, Fire Rat."

The young woman rolled her eyes and started to walk away, but Tahno kept pace with her to the street, as though determined to piss her off until the very last second.

"What do you want?" she demanded. "Why are you following me? Don't _you_ have somewhere else you could be?"

"Nah," he said easily. "I told you, I'm bored."

"Go be bored somewhere else," she grumbled. "I'm going back to the temple."

"How?" Tahno wondered. "Not even you can bend your way across that disaster. We're about twenty knots away from being a full-blown hurricane. No pun intended."

She cast a withering glare at him. "Well, seeing as there aren't any ship in action right now, that's my only option," she said. "Unless you have some brilliant solution under all that hair of yours."

"As a matter of fact," he said with a dirty leer. "I do. Why don't you come to my place to wait the storm out, hm?"

"Ugh, as if," she spat, turning away again. "I told you, don't flatter yourself."

"Aw, c'mon Uh-vatar," he drawled, prolonging her nickname. "You're no fun."

"Again," she said, feeling like a broken record at this point. "Different definitions of fun. Leave me alone, would you?"

"But razzing you is so much fun," Tahno whined.

"Get a hobby," she replied, starting to walk toward the docks. Unsurprisingly, Tahno followed her. "Or better yet: get a life!"

"Mine's a bit more substantial than yours, lovebird," he mocked. "Seeing as you clearly can't even keep a relationship going."

Korra bristled and whipped around, her right fist following and connecting viciously with his jaw, causing him to stumble back in surprise. He raised a long-fingered hand to the accosted spot and looked at her sourly. He gave just the tiniest twitch of his other wrist. There was a moment where Korra felt her heart leap into her throat, and then she was falling, her feet flying out from under her as the water on the ground froze suddenly to slick ice. She was suspended in space for an instant, and before she could even cry out in shock, a stabbing pain exploded in the back of her head, and everything went dark.

Tahno leaped clumsily to his feet, stomach lurching as Korra's eyes rolled into the back of her head. He waited for her to move, to sit back up whining and clutching the spot that had hit the pavement and then moving to attack him again. She didn't, though, and he moved to her side, bending the ice away so that he didn't slip and fall on top of her. Wary in case she was faking, he crouched down at her side and reached out to lift her eyelid. He was greeted by white and moved his hand over her lips, checking to see if she was still breathing. She was.

He sat back on his heels, raking a hand through his disheveled hair. Fantastic. If anybody heard that he'd attacked the Avatar, his image would be completely destroyed. Granted, he hadn't actually meant to knock her out. At worst he figured she'd land on her butt and bruise her tailbone, but he hadn't been counting on the sensory scrambling caused by the storm. With sigh he slid an arm beneath her waist and hefted her over his shoulder, sliding his arm behind her knees to keep her from falling off.

"Looks like she's waiting out the storm at my place anyway," he chuckled to himself, starting toward his apartment.

**_R&R_**


	3. You're Tahno

The storm passed before morning came, and the sun rose above the horizon with its light unrestricted by clouds to pour through the windows in every light flooded the rooms in the temple first, leaving the residents to sit up in their beds, blinking and squinting as they tried to get their bearings. Asami ran a hand over her face and shielded her eyes from the bright sunlight, fumbling for the shades to block it out. Tenzin groaned and rolled over, burrowing his face into a pillow next to Pema, who was blinking furiously and looking around. The Airbender kids were just now stirring in the living room, lifting their heads from Naga's large white mass to look around and wonder why they weren't in their bedrooms. Bolin gave a grunting snore so loud that it woke him up with a start, and he was promptly blinded by the bright light streaming in through his own window. In the room across the hall, Mako threw his legs over the side of his bed with a groan. True to his expectations, he had hardly slept at all that night, and his body felt stiff and heavy as he stood up. He wondered when Korra had returned last night, but figured it didn't really matter. She would probably still be angry with him in any case.

With a sigh, Mako went to his dresser and fumbled with a pair of pants in the top drawer before managing to extract them and pull them on over his boxers. He grabbed the shirt that was hanging on his bedpost from the previous night on his way out and shrugged into it while he used a foot to inch open the door. He heard his brother fumbling around behind his closed door, but Mako didn't really feel like waiting around for Bolin to fight his way into a set of clothes that wasn't filthy, so he continued on out the building and onto the covered walk. Despite the makeshift ceiling of sorts over the pathway, the angle of the rising sun cast light straight across the ground and flooded the otherwise sheltered area, deftly avoiding said ceiling. Mako took a moment to bask in the warm sunlight, drinking in the welcome heat after such a stormy night. The light turned his black hair to a dark chestnut color and his amber eyes were set ablaze as though he had living fire inside of him in that very instant. However, when a stiff dawn breeze skated underneath the color of his shirt, he shuddered and hurried into the main temple, and the illusion was gone.

Asami and the Airbender kids were at the table by the time Mako arrived, and he could hear Pema bustling about in the kitchen, hushing her baby and cooing nonsense words to him. Bolin obviously hadn't made it to the table yet, and neither had Korra, which didn't worry Mako. She'd had a late night and was probably sleeping in, considering he'd gone to bed very late and she still hadn't returned by then. No, the absence that concerned Mako immediately was the master of the temple.

"Where's Tenzin?" he asked as he flopped down between two empty seats. "Council business?"

Asami yawned before she could reply, and Ikki took the chance to spit her rapid-fire chatter at him.

"Daddy went to look for Korra 'cause Korra didn't come home last night! Daddy's real mad. I hope he doesn't find her. She'll be in _reeeaaalll_ trouble if he does!"

Mako blinked. He'd understood about every third word Ikki had said, as per usual, and it wasn't enough for him to guess what she was saying. Also quite usual.

"Tenzin's where now?" he said hesitantly.

"He's out looking for Korra," Asami sighed, glancing out the window worriedly. "She didn't come home last night."

Mako's heart sank. How upset was she with him that she would refuse to return at all? Had what he said really been that bad? Or…what if she _couldn't_ return? Who knew, maybe she'd been kidnapped or hurt or…or… He leaped back to his feet at once, startling Jinora and Meelo, the latter of whom had been dozing off with his head on his placemat.

"We gotta go look for her!" he exclaimed when no one else rose to their feet. "She could be in danger!"

"Who's in danger?" said a groggy voice from behind Mako. He whirled around to find Bolin, his hair a disaster and his pajamas all askew looking at him with a green gaze that was glazed over by sleep as of yet.

"Korra!" Mako said fiercely. "She didn't come home last night!"

Bolin looked at him for a minute, and Mako hoped that his brother would join in with his concern. The younger man blinked, eyes starting to clear up a little. He shuffled toward the Firebender...and right past him to fling himself down in his own seat at the table.

"Bo!" Mako protested in outrage. Bolin looked over at him.

"She's fine, Mako," Bolin said tiredly. "You know she can handle herself, and I'm sure Tenzin's already out looking for her right now. You're just upset because you made her leave in the first place."

"I did not _make_ her leave!" the older brother denied indignantly, but he clicked his teeth the way he did when he was evading a specific truth.

Nobody responded to him, and nobody rose to their feet to support him. With a frustrated huff he turned on his heel and made for the front entrance, nearly knocking shoulders with Pema as she emerged from the kitchen holding a plate of rolls with cheese melted on top. He muttered a quick apology and swept out of the room, leaving the others to watch, weary of his hot-tempered behavior.

The Air Acolytes were preparing the trading barge for the daily materials run, but as the robed monks bustled to and fro over the mast and the rigging, another person already across the water was stirring as the morning light found its way through his own window. He cracked open foggy silver eyes and ran a hand over his matted raven hair, sitting up groggily on his bed. He'd fallen asleep on top of his covers, having been too hot the previous night even with the thunderstorm, but he had changed his clothes. Or rather, he had shed his clothes to leave himself wearing only his boxer shorts.

Looking around, he spied a pair of brown boots and an animal pelt of a slightly paler color lying by the foot of his bed. Tiredly he tried to remember why they were there. Had some girl spent the night? No, that couldn't be-he hadn't had any callers since he left the Wolfbats. So who…?

Korra! He'd brought Korra to his flat after he'd unwittingly knocked her unconscious! They'd gotten back soaking wet, him carrying the limp Uh-vatar over his shoulder like the heaviest sack of flour that had ever existed. After he'd bent the water from both of them and laid her down on one side of his massive four-poster bed, he checked her head for any injuries and found an impressive goose egg where her skull had met the icy concrete, but nothing else that he could detect; no signs of a fractured skull, no blood in the ears from any hemorrhaging. There'd been nothing to do but put some ice on the affected area and go to sleep himself as far away from the fire rat on the bed as he could get. He glanced over where she had been laying, and found the place deserted. A spool had fallen out of her hair and lay on the dark blue comforter, and there was an indent where her body had been, but she was gone. He supposed he would have been glad, except that she'd left behind several of her belongings, so she wasn't far.

With a groan, he threw his feet over the side of his bed and stood, fisting his eyes and debating whether it would be worth the trouble to find himself some pants. He decided against it; it might be fun to see the Uh-vatar's face when she saw his bare lean body and had to fight the blush he knew would come. However tough she tried to be, she was most definitely innocent in the places where he was experienced.

He padded barefoot out of his bedroom and looked down the hallway to his left and right, wondering if she would have gone to the front room and kitchen or the bathroom. Maybe she'd gone to the guest room when she woke up and realized that she was sharing a bed with possibly her least favorite person in Republic City, now that Amon and Tarrlok were both gone. He figured that was more likely and went to the right, deeper into the flat, but when his hand touched the doorknob, he heard a truly horrible noise coming from the bathroom. Closing his eyes and suppressing a sigh of disgust, he reluctantly traipsed farther down to the bathroom, where the door stood ajar and a light shone dimly. A heaving noise could be heard from inside.

He didn't want to open the door, but he'd brought Korra back with him and made her his responsibility, so he didn't have much choice. He pushed inside and was met with an ugly sight: the young woman bent over the toilet, her entire body convulsing violently as she hurled the contents of her stomach into the bowl with the sound of a choking platypus bear. The spasm passed and she slumped to the side wearily as Tahno watched, mouth opened in shock and revulsion. What was he supposed to do with this?

Maybe he made some kind of sickened noise, or scuffed his feet accidentally, or perhaps the door had creaked slightly when he opened it, but Korra looked around as though expecting him to be there. Her blue eyes were feverishly bright, her lips pale, and her fingers trembled a little at her sides. She looked incredibly pathetic, even more than she usually did.

"You pregnant, Uh-vatar?" he mocked, trying to cover his lack of preparation for such a scene. "You and fire ferret actually get down and dirty?"

She blinked and squinted up at him, tilting her head to the side. He noticed irrelevantly that the spool that had fallen from her dark hair onto his bed was the one that usually held the lock of hair on the left side of her face. Speaking of her hair, it was a total rat's nest, as became a fire rat like herself.

"...Who?" she mumbled hoarsely.

He rolled his eyes and sneered at her.

"You really gonna play dumb?" he jibed. "Your fire ferret-that Mako kid."

She frowned.

"Mako…" she echoed. "I...recognize that name."

He frowned down at her.

"Uh, yeah, even you're not stupid enough to forget someone like…" But he cut himself off. Her eyes were unfocused, her appearance a disaster, her words slurred. Her vomit was floating in the toilet next to her, and she hadn't said a word about his lack of clothing. He dared to venture closer to her and the befouled toilet to get a better look at her, even going so far as to kneel down in front of her. Her gaze seemed to have difficulty focusing on him as he moved, and his heart sank.

"Someone like who?" she said quietly. He stared at her for a long moment before he said anything at all.

"Who are you?" he asked in a hoarse voice. She frowned at him.

"I'm...Korra," she said slowly. "The Avatar. Aren't I?"

"Yeah," said Tahno, but he wasn't relieved. Then, already afraid he knew what the answer would be, he opened his mouth and asked another simple question. "And who is Mako?"

She looked at him for a long time, her hazy blue gaze fighting to focus on his face as her brow furrowed. Her lips parted. Closed. Parted again. Closed again.

"I know you," she said, though she sounded uncertain. "I know your face."

"That's not what I'm asking. Who is Mako?" he said, shaking her shoulder.

She cringed and moaned, inciting him to draw his hand away as she fumbled to the toilet again. He braced himself for gross noise and an even worse smell, but all she had were dry heaves, having expelled everything in her stomach already. When her body gave up trying to cleanse itself, she slumped against the wall and looked back at him.

"Who is Mako?" he asked again.

She looked down at the floor, her face screwed up in frustration.

"I don't…" she mumbled. "I feel like...But I don't…"

"Don't _what_?!"

She flinched at his raised voice, but didn't look up. "I don't know. I feel like I should know that name, but I...I can't remember."

Tahno ran a hand over his face, and when it cleared his eyes, he found Korra watching him as warily as she could with that dazed expression.

"Right," he groaned. "And who am I?"

"You're…" she said, her eyes roving over his pale face, his shaggy blue-black hair, his lean physique. "You're…"

"I'm…?" he prompted irately. She was, quite impressively, even slower now than she usually was. Her eyes moved back to his, and for a moment her expression cleared somewhat.

"You're Tahno."

**_R&R of course. I'm going to try to post at least once a week, generally on a Sunday or Monday. Putting it on a schedule helps me get everything done efficiently. I apologize if this in any way inconveniences you_**


	4. Half-Forgotten

Unsurprisingly, Korra had a concussion. Tahno had guessed as much when he realized her memory had been jumbled up-she didn't even remember that she was in Republic City, although that came back to her easier than other things did. After all, it had been a pretty serious blow to the back of the head that she'd received, accident or no. He couldn't take her to the healers because they'd ask questions that he couldn't answer, and he'd rather not deal with the drama. He figured that he could probably fix her up with the skills he learned from the healers in Republic City, but he still wasn't very good, so it would take several sessions over the course of several days, which he wasn't necessarily looking forward to. That would mean an extended time spent with the Uh-vatar, and that wasn't exactly at the top of his list of fantasies. But…

She'd remembered him. She knew Tahno when she didn't know Mako. The Wolfbat rival, but not the street rat boyfriend. What was he supposed to make of that? She didn't even remember that much about him. Just his name and face, and that he was a sassy Waterbender, though that could have been an observation, but very little else. It was like he was a childhood friend that she had known before he moved away, and they were meeting for the first time in many years. That was ridiculous of course. They weren't friends. They never had been. He was just some guy that she'd met in a restaurant on an especially unsavory night, one he liked to pretend never happened since it had involved him squealing like a little girl while a terrifying polarbear dog roared a foot from his face.

"Tahno?"

Tahno glanced around, hands pausing as they rummaged through his dresser for something suitable to wear for what would doubtlessly be a long and taxing day. Korra was standing in his doorway, looking uncomfortable. She'd replaced the missing spool in her hair, but she hadn't donned the rest of her clothing.

"Yeah?" he said, turning back to his dresser and inspecting a particularly silky black tunic. The fasteners on the front were electric blue, as was the hem of the body and long sleeves. Quite respectable.

"I don't have anything to wear," she said shyly. "These clothes are dirty."

"So?" he questioned, pulling a pair of charcoal pants to go with the shirt and tossing both articles of clothing onto the bed where a pair of underwear already lay. "Never seemed to bother you before."

Even if he hadn't turned around to see Korra's frown, he would have heard it in her voice. As it was, he saw her brow furrow as she looked down at the ground.

"Before…" she muttered. "What was I like before?"

Tahno was very tempted to tell her that she was an annoying, over-confident, and exceptionally mule-headed woman who had no consideration for the people around her, but he stopped himself. Maybe it was the honest confusion in her eyes, but more likely it was the fact that now Tahno understood what it meant to be helpless, what it felt like when you didn't know what to do or even if there was anything you could do. He had lost his bending to that bastard Amon, but that had been restored easily enough. What Korra had lost were her memories. In essence, she had lost herself, and he understood to an extent how frightening that was and how alone she probably felt. It wouldn't be fair to take advantage of her weakness like that. Even he had some lines he would not cross.

"Loud," he told her in lieu of anything that had just transpired in his head. "Obnoxious."

"Loud and obnoxious?" she repeated, and groaned. "Great. Awesome."

His lips curled. Maybe he shouldn't take advantage of her weakness to tell her everything he found wrong with her character, but he could still get a little fun out of this, right?

"Follow me," he told her, brushing past and into the hallway. He knew she would follow him because she had done little else since she woke up, falling behind him only when overcome by powerful dizzy spells that left her leaning against a wall or table, so he walked straight to the spare room and to the closet, opening the doors so that the creaking covered the sound of Korra's footsteps. Inside the closet hung a dozen dresses and as many suits, all of varying cuts and colors and materials. He stepped aside to let the Uh-vatar admire them, but was somewhat irked when she showed very little interest in any of the available options.

"They're so…fancy," she said, making a face as she held up a long transparent green sleeve that sparkled gaudily with every little movement. She turned back to him, and he caught a glimpse of the Korra he was familiar with. "Tell me that's not _all_ you have?"

He made a sour face and crossed his arms. "So what if it is, Uh-vatar?" he challenged. "Would you prefer to go naked? I wouldn't mind seeing that."

Her cheeks flushed, but she held her ground and looked back up at him. He couldn't say she was glowering, exactly, but she didn't look overly ecstatic either. With a groan he pushed his hair back and closed the wardrobe, moving instead to the dresser next to it and pulling open the first drawer. Clothes closer to the Uh-vatar's preference were folded neatly inside; loose-knit pants and sleeveless tops, button-ups and slacks, tank tops and shorts. Casual, everyday wear that would be absolutely boring for Tahno.

"That's more like it," Korra praised, and began pawing indelicately through the various articles for something that would suit her taste.

Tahno knew that she would find the water tribe clothing in there, so he went back to his room and gathered his clothes before disappearing into the bathroom to shower. The hot water felt fantastic on his tense neck and shoulders, but it couldn't relax him completely. There was an Avatar in his apartment that knew exceptionally little about her own life and the people in it. To his shock, he had been one of the few that she remembered with having to be prompted. It was mostly people that she couldn't recall; she still remembered Naga and Pabu, as well as various places that she had been. She remembered her boyfriend's younger brother Bolin, and the Airbender brats, but she couldn't seem to recall the Master Tenzin at all, nor could she remember the Sato girl. She remembered Amon and the Equalists, and she remembered her parents, but not by name.

He lost track of how long he spent in the shower after he'd washed, but he was reluctant to leave the hot stream of water and return to the helpless Uh-vatar in his flat. Still, there was little else to be done, so with a regretful noise he turned the water off and pulled the shower curtains aside, stepping out to drip on the tile floor as he reached for a thick towel that had been warmed by the steam issuing from his hot shower. Tahno dried himself off quickly, pulled on his clothes, and hung the towel back up to dry. With nothing else to do to stall for time, he made his way to the door and left the bathroom for the guest room, where Korra was sitting on the bed looking out a window at the city.

"Shower's yours," he said curtly. She looked around sharply as though he'd startled her. A bundle of clothing was too jumbled in her lap for him to recognize it, but it didn't really matter. He gestured toward the bathroom, and then retreated to the kitchen before the concussed girl could respond. He began making breakfast, pulling eggs and cheese out of the refrigerator and setting them on the counter to dig through a cupboard for a bundle of rolls fresh-baked the previous day. He broke them apart and put them on a clay platter to slide into the oven to warm, sprinkling cheese over the top before he did so and then setting a low fire. He went to the stove and lit a second, smaller fire on which he set a pot of water to boil. Once that was done, he went to sit on the sofa in the living space to wait, picking up a magazine lying on the coffee table by the arm and flipping aimlessly through the laminated pages.

A celebrity from a new mover was getting razzed for her racy attire. Some non-bending sports star was getting accused of using performance-enhancing substances. The probending team the Fire Ferrets had risen to the top of the charts but hadn't been seen practicing since-were they at the end of their career? Tahno snorted, turned the page, and found a blown-up image staring up at him with angry, electric blue eyes. He blinked, wondering what the hell a picture of Korra was doing in the gossip rag, and scoured the page for the matching article.

_**AVATAR KORRA: HEART-BENDER?**_

Tahno made no attempt to stifle his raucous laughter at such a reaching title and continued, very curious to see how they painted the Uh-vatar as a romantic type. Unfortunately, he found that the article wasn't nearly as amusing as the title.

Mako was getting a lot of sideways looks the moment he set foot on the docks of Republic City, and at first he wrote them off as probending fans, but he quickly realized that they weren't awed or starstruck or excited. They looked angry. Wherever he turned, he noted people muttering to each other behind their hands, eyes flashing in his direction when they thought he wasn't looking. He tried asking somebody what was going on, but the woman just looked at him incredulously, as though she couldn't believe he had the gall to be curious about the pressing stares, and then spun on her heel and stalked off, leaving the Firebender nonplussed.

One of the Air Acolytes had accompanied him, offering his help, and was just as concerned about the negative attention as his companion.

"What the hell is going on?" Mako demanded when he was turned away after a sneered _Like you don't know_ from a small, somewhat dumpy man standing outside a bakery.

"I don't know, Master Mako," the acolyte said, shaking his head.

"Stop with the Master, dude," Mako sighed.

"Of course," the acolyte bowed his head, and then looked around again.

They both observed their surroundings, taking in the people speaking casually at cafe tables and those throwing them dark, disapproving glares, and noticed a pattern. A fair few of the latter type of people had a magazine sitting next to them or else open in their hands, and it was the same magazine every single time. Mako couldn't see the title, but the cover was exactly the same from baleful glower to baleful glower.

"Looks like the media is after us again," Mako sighed. He caught a person walking by that wasn't giving him hateful looks and asked them where he could purchase one of those gossip rags. The person, a young man, pointed a few stores down at a comic book store that had a rack of newspapers and various magazines by the door. Mako thanked him and sent him on his way, going quickly to the magazine rack and finding the right one: _Republic City Tell-All_.

"I wouldn't put much stock in this magazine, Mas-Mako," said the monk at his shoulder, correcting himself hastily. "It's entirely based on extortion."

"I want to know how they're trying to turn other people against us," Mako said stubbornly, beginning to flip the pages at light speed. He paused on an article about his probending team, but after a quick scan satisfied himself that it wasn't the thing that had people in such a fit. He kept flipping, and came face-to-face with an enlarged photograph of his angry girlfriend above the article title: _**AVATAR KORRA: HEART BENDER?**_


	5. Avatar Korra: Heartbender?

_**AVATAR KORRA: HEART BENDER?**_

**We are all familiar with the present Avatar, Korra of the Southern Water Tribe. This hot-tempered and fiery young woman has captured the hearts of many throughout Republic City with her honest and straightforward attitude, as well as her readiness to jump to people's defense in trying times. This somewhat hard-headed young bender, however, still has much to learn about the ways of the world. She came from a sheltered childhood and has had, according to a descendent of a cabbage merchant who was very familiar with Avatar Aang, very little experience in the strangest and most confusing part of human nature: romance. **

**The young man Mako of the Fire Ferrets seems to have captured our Avatar's heart, and their relationship seemed perfect. At first. But it quickly came to the attention of many that beneath the sweet smiles and the cheerful embraces lurked troubles that even the Avatar could not bend away. The probending stars have a truly unhealthy relationship, scattered with fights that, according to reliable anonymous sources, are very loud, very common, and very empty. It is suspected that the couple have even come to blows; reliable sources inform us that the two have been seen going at each other's throats quite often on Air Temple Island. It has been suggested many times-and there has been evidence to support such a claim-that Mako isn't satisfied with just the Avatar, but has a young woman on the side as well: Asami Sato, daughter of the notorious Hiroshi Sato, who aided Amon in his war against bending. Miss Sato comes across as a respectable young lady, but the apple never falls far from the tree, and blood runs thicker than water; is it only a matter of time before the young Miss Sato turns away playboy Mako?**

**Avatar Korra, when asked about this suspected affair, brushed it off to the media as nothing more than talk, allowing that Mako and Asami did, at one point, have a thing, but were quite content to just be friends now. However, was that really the end of it? Korra was seen that very same night leaving the Air Temple in a rage, refusing to return for hours on end as is apparently customary with the young woman. She is clearly at the end of her rope, trying to keep up a relationship that only serves to cause her more stress on the premise that she really loves this unsupportive probender with too much time on his hands and not enough women on Air Temple Island to keep himself entertained.**

**What is in store for Avatar Korra? Will she continue to fight for this broken relationship? Will she stand by Mako even as he continues to be nothing but harsh with her? Or will she finally say she has had enough and leave him in the dirt? That remains to be seen.**

* * *

Mako stared at the page long after he had finished reading the short article, the words wrestling in his head while phrases jumped out and tried to strangle him.

_Broken relationship. Nothing but harsh. Leave him in the dirt._

"Master Mako…" said the Air Acolyte hesitantly, having read the same article over Mako's shoulder. The Firebender didn't respond. It was like he had become a statue.

"Mako," the monk tried again, setting a hand on his shoulder.

Mako's hands tightened on the magazine, his fingers curling into fists and crumpling the pages inside them as his rage built. Who the _hell_ had written this?! How dare they say that his relationship with Korra was so horrible and that it was all his fault? They were doing _fine_! Sure they fought every now and then, but who didn't?

"Mako," said the monk, his hand tightening on the boy's shoulder. "That magazine is nothing more than sensational lies. Do not let it bother you. Come. We must find Miss Korra."

Gritting his teeth, Mako forced himself to close the gossip column and shove it unceremoniously back into the stand, though he would have liked nothing better than to burn it and every copy like it into ash. The hand left his shoulder, apparently satisfied that Mako would not resort to violence just yet, and the Firebender turned away from the stall, murder in his heart.

If he ever found out who those "reliable sources" were, he was going to roast them on a spit and damn the consequences.

* * *

Only a few streets away, leaning his elbows on his knees and gripping an identical magazine in his own pale hands, Tahno had his gaze fixed not on the article but on the bathroom door, which he could just see down the hall from where he sat. Now, Tahno knew better than most that magazines such as this were more packed with lies than anything else, but he also knew that they couldn't find smoke where there was no fire. How much of the story was plausible? Honestly, most of it wasn't much of a stretch. Still, some of the things the author-wisely left anonymous-claimed struck him more than others.

_The couple have even come to blows. Young woman on the side. Suspected affair._

"Tahno?"

The Waterbender sat bolt upright as the bathroom door opened, and he hastily stuffed the magazine between the cushions of his couch. It'd do no good to show Korra the article presently, as she couldn't remember enough to confirm nor deny any statement made in it.

"W-what?" he called, cursing himself when he stuttered. She came down the dark hall into the main living space, toweling off her loose, wet hair.

She wasn't wearing what he'd expected her to grab. In place of the loose pants and boring tops that were so reminiscent of her usual style, she had taken a pair of dark pants and a top similar to his own but for its sleeveless, vest-like appearance. The fasteners on it were a dark gray, and the material was a dark charcoal color that was almost-but not quite-black. He hated to say it, but she actually looked really good.

"Just wondering if you were planning on doing anything for breakfast," she said, frowning at his harried appearance. "Everything alright?"

"What-yeah, fine," he said curtly. "Breakfast-it's cooking now. I was boiling some water, but it's probably done, so-"

She frowned at him and he shut up, realizing that he was rambling.

_Continue to fight for this broken relationship_…

"I'll just-ah-go check the water," he mumbled, rising quickly and hurrying from the room.

Well, he'd just made a total idiot of himself. Even if Korra didn't remember how much she couldn't stand him before, she would probably just rediscover those feelings if he kept acting like such a moron. Briefly he wondered why he cared if her view on him changed at all, but he quickly brushed off the concern as nothing more than anxious chatter in his head.

He found it hard to believe that a girl as impatient as Korra would be willing to try and keep up a relationship as dysfunctional as the one she shared with Mako seemed to be. Tahno would have expected her to KO the kid the first time he made a mistake and then call it quits. Then again, if she truly thought she _loved_ him, then her tenacity would swing the other way. It made sense, actually. Her mule-headed tendencies meant that she would stick with whatever she did, even if she found out it was pointless and no good.

The water was indeed boiling, nearly reaching the top of the saucepan, and Tahno rushed to make sure it didn't spill and put out the fire beneath it, forgetting for a moment his queer thoughts. When satisfied that the water wasn't going to cause him more trouble, he carefully dropped the two eggs into the pot and set a timer to go off in 3 minutes. He didn't want to go back to the living room and face Korra again, sure that something about the fire rat would slip out without his conscious consent. However, he knew that there was no point in trying to avoid the Avatar when all she'd done since waking up was puke and then follow him around like a lost puppy.

He groaned and went back into the living room to find Korra standing exactly where he'd left her, still trying to towel-dry her hair with clumsy, unpracticed movements. Either this was one of those things she forgot, or she had never bothered to dry her hair before now. Reluctantly he went to her side and swatted her hands away, taking over and working her hair good and proper from scalp to end with the towel, thinking how mortified he would be if someone were to come through that front door right in that very moment. Wouldn't it be just his luck if some idiot barged in on him while he was-Yue help him-drying the Avatar's hair with a towel. He could imagine the next magazine article, complete with some cheesy couple name like he'd seen people do with various celebrities in the past: _**THE NEW ROMANCE: TAHNORRA ON THE RISE.**_

He shuddered to think.

"Thanks...Tahno," the subject of his screwed-up thoughts said quietly. He grunted in reply, perhaps pulling on her hair a little too hard. She didn't complain, though, and with a sigh he finished up, making sure to drape the towel over her face when he was done.

"Hey!" she protested, tearing it off and flinging it at him. He caught it easily, then his hand lashed out before he really registered that she was teetering on the spot, catching her elbow and pulling her away from the coffee table's sharp corners. She fell heavily against his chest, face flushed and eyes unfocused from the sudden dizzy spell. Her hands were trapped between their chests, trembling slightly, and her temperature was burning through his thin clothing as though there was a fire beneath her skin.

Tahno stiffened and wrapped his fingers around her elbows, guiding her away from him without letting her fall, and carefully helped her sit on the couch where she proceeded to collapse. He sighed and leaned back, folding his arms across his chest. His skin was still burning, and he could feel the trail of heat where her breath had hit his collarbone.

"What the hell?" he groaned, shaking his head.

He went back into the kitchen and checked on the food, finding the rolls perfectly done and the timer for the eggs seconds away from going off. Proud of his excellent timing, he took the rolls from the oven and tore them into halves before removing the shells from the eggs and spreading the semi-gooey substance over the surface of the bread. Cooking was one of the many hobbies he'd made an attempt at picking up, and was the only one so far that he'd managed to stick with, though this could have less to do with becoming a more domesticated man and more because he had to fend for himself and he wanted to enjoy his meals. In either case, he'd become a fairly decent cook, and he took pride in this fact when something he tried came out right.

Carrying his plate and Korra's, Tahno re entered the living room and found that Korra had pushed herself up and was leaning against the arm of the couch, forehead in her hand.

"There," he said briskly, setting the plate on her lap. "Eat. I'll try to heal you once you've got something in your system."

"Thanks," she replied, looking up from her state of deep concentration. She seemed surprised as she looked down at the food.

"Problem, Uh-vatar?" he challenged, beginning to wolf down his own breakfast. The sooner he could heal Korra, the sooner he could get her out of his flat.

She glanced up. "Huh? Oh, no," she said quickly. "I just-I never imagined you being much of a cook."

Tahno scoffed. "So you remember your low opinion of me too, huh?" he said absently.

She stuck her tongue out at him. "Just because I didn't think you could cook doesn't mean I had a low opinion of you," she challenged hotly.

"Nah, it just means you think I'm some spoiled, privileged playboy that eats out for every single meal," he agreed. "Now that you put it that way, I see your point. You definitely hold me in high esteem."

"Oh, shut up," she snapped, but she began eating without complaint, actively avoiding his gaze.

He watched her with his eyebrows raised. She probably hadn't even really registered that she'd said her opinion of him wasn't, in actuality, as low as he would have expected. Tahno couldn't rightly explain even to himself why he cared about that, but he didn't dwell on it for long. His mind kept traveling back to that article and wondering how much might be accurate, if any of it was.

Korra was moments away from licking her plate clean, so he rose and took the dish from her, carrying hers and his into the kitchen and setting them in the sink to be washed at a later time. When he returned, a stone dropped in his stomach. Korra was feeling around between the cushions of the seat, frowning.

"What are you doing?" Tahno demanded.

"I moved and the couch made a weird noise," said Korra, looking up at him. "I figured something was between the cushions."

"Leave it," he told her stiffly. "Come with me."

She gave him a shrewd look, and he scowled, putting his hands on his hips.

"Do you want me to fix your head or not? If you'd rather run around not remembering anything, fine. The door's that way."

Korra hastily rose to her feet. "I need your help," she said heavily. "Damn it."

He turned without a word and led her to the bathroom. The door was still hanging open from when she'd exited, and she'd left the light on as well. He steered her over to the bathtub and set the plug before turning on the tap, allowing the basin to fill with about a inch of tepid water. Korra knelt down by the tub without a word, crossing her legs and leaning forward on her knees with her head tilted down, already knowing where he needed to apply the water. Tahno crouched behind her, cursing his luck for the umpteenth time even as he pulled the water from the basin and began to carefully run it over the back of her head, being mindful to focus on the worst damage and skating over the smaller "bruises" so to speak, the things that weren't as detrimental to her mental well being.

Tahno knew he was in the right area because Korra went stiff as a board and the air hissed through her teeth like oxygen leaking from a balloon. He was careful-more careful than he could remember ever being before-while he healed her, moving the water ceaselessly over her scrambled head. Slowly Korra's shoulders began to relax and her hands relaxed from the fists they had curled into, signaling that he was doing something right.

"Alright?" he checked, pausing. She took a moment to reply.

"...Yeah. Yeah, I think so."

He smirked and continued the process, wondering idly how it felt. He'd gotten the occasional shoulder injury in the ring, and once he'd hurt his hip pretty badly, but he couldn't quite imagine how the healing process would feel on his _head_. It seemed like it would feel pretty weird. It felt weird to be the one doing the healing, though; feeling as the body knit itself back together under his palms, the bone fusing back together seamlessly where it had fractured. It was all very new to him, but he didn't really mind. He didn't in truth even mind that it was Korra he was healing, though he'd be damned before he admitted it. There was just something about her, something that could drive one absolutely mental and at the same time make one feel…good. However annoying she was-and she ruled the market on that-she always knew what to say at the critical moment to make someone feel like they meant something. Like they were important. She'd even worked that magic on him, though he doubted that she'd realized it at the time.

_Listen...I know we're not exactly best friends...But I'm sorry Amon took your bending._

Such a small thing. It hadn't been well-thought out or poetic. She'd told him nothing of value. But to a man that had just lost everything in the blink of an eye, it was a kindness that he had yet to be shown, and he'd been grateful for it. He still was.


	6. Do I Know You?

Tahno had done all he could for the one sitting, and Korra had told him that she felt better already, but she didn't remember anymore than she had upon waking up. Still, he couldn't very well just let her sit around his flat doing nothing until something did change, so he made her finish getting ready and told her that they were going out with the hope that maybe walking through the city would help her remember. She stood by the door wearing not only the clothes he had lent her but a pair of shoes as well, because he hadn't approved of her wearing her boring boots with his own fantastic wardrobe, but her hair was still the same, pulled back into a wolf tail with a lock on either side of her face, all kept in place by her blue spools. She wore her bracers and arm band as well, stubbornly insisting that she keep them in spite of Tahno's persistence. It was a very Korra attitude, so he supposed he should be glad of it, but the bracers still looked strange with the rest of her classy borrowed attire.

There were some battles, however, that probably weren't worth fighting, so he let it go and led her outside. The sun was shining brightly by now, giving no indication that only the previous night there had been a torrential downpour, and a lazy breeze ruffled their hair upon departure. He shut the door behind Korra and locked it up, then slid his hands into his pockets and took the lead, smirking when she fell into step right at his shoulder without a word. The streets were packed with people most of whom walked right past them without even noticing that he was accompanied by the Avatar. However, on occasion, somebody would do a double-take or else glance back over their shoulder upon recognizing Korra, and he would grin in a self-satisfied sort of way.

Korra looked around at the streets with wide eyes, taking in the shops and restaurants and people with the zeal of a tourist, and every now and then she would point somewhere and excitedly cry that she remembered that shop there or that the food over there was pretty good. It was hard not to be drawn in by her energy, and Tahno found himself actually enjoying walking with her somewhat, laughing as she pointed animatedly at the Council Building and recalled Tarrlok the Bloodbender. She was like that fire ferret that the idiot Earthbender Bolin always carried around with him.

They were in all honesty having a good time, and Tahno was just beginning to question why he was enjoying himself so much when a loud voice cut through the crowd like lightning, and the good mood vanished in the blink of an eye.

"Korra! Where have you been?!"

Tahno looked around, a sneer curling his lips as his silver gaze landed on one very harassed-looking Firebender trying to wade through the throng of people toward them. Korra looked around and frowned, tilting her head to the side. Tahno felt his sneer grow into an ugly smile. This could be fun.

"Uh…" said Korra uncertainly, glancing from Mako to Tahno and back again.

"I've been looking all over for you!" he exclaimed, squeezing between two people to come to a panting halt in front of the Avatar. "You didn't come back to the temple last night!"

"Temple?" she echoed. "I was...uh…"

She gestured helplessly at Tahno, at which point the street rat finally seemed to take notice of the man and scowled worse than ever.

"What the hell are you doing hanging out with _him_?!" Mako demanded angrily.

Korra blinked, taken aback by his harsh tone, and took a step away from him. Mako's eyes darkened.

"Have you read this?" he demanded of her, and he brandished a very crumpled magazine. A lead weight dropped in Tahno's stomach. "Do you have any idea what they're saying about us?"

"Us?" she repeated, and she was starting to fire up. "Look, I don't know what your problem is, but I-"

"What my _problem_ is?" Mako burst. "My _problem_ is that the media's turning my relationship into a _joke_ and my girlfriend ran off last night and never came back!"

Korra scowled.

"Well I can't blame your girlfriend, if you talk to her anything like you're talking to me," she snapped. Mako came up short.

"What-" he started. "Korra, that isn't funny."

"I wasn't making a joke," she said. "What the hell does your dysfunctional relationship have to do with me?"

"Quit screwing around, Korra," said Mako, his anger flaring again. Tahno was taking no small amount of pleasure from this scene. He couldn't remember the last time he'd had such a good source of entertainment. "It's because you say things like that that journalists write these bullshit columns!"

And he tore open the gossip rag to the article that Tahno had so skillfully avoided showing her himself. Korra blinked, startled at coming face-to-page with a picture of herself in the magazine over that ridiculous title.

"That's me…" she murmured.

"Yeah, it is," Mako snapped. "And they're accusing me of-"

"What do I care what they're accusing you of?" Korra cut across him, not looking at the page any longer but into his blazing amber eyes. "I don't know you!"

Mako stared. So did the group that had gathered around their heated shouting match.

"Knock it off," said Mako after a minute of awkward silence. "I'm serious, Korra. Stop that."

"Stop what?" she demanded, getting more and more exasperated with every word.

Tahno figured he should probably jump in soon, but…a little longer wouldn't hurt, would it?

"Stop pretending you don't recognize me."

"I _don't_," she exclaimed.

"The hell you don't." His voice was getting quieter, and Tahno could literally _see_ him shrinking in stature.

"Actually, loser," said Tahno with a sneer. "Right now, she doesn't know you."

"Shut up, you cheat," Mako snarled at once.

"Hey!" said Korra indignantly. "Don't take your problems out on him!"

Mako whipped back around to look at her incredulously, and Tahno felt his chest puff out a little bit.

"You're defending him now?!" Mako exclaimed. "After he-"

"I'm helping her," the Waterbender interjected, setting a hand on her shoulder. She flicked his fingers off, but he just chuckled.

"Helping her with what?" the Firebender demanded.

"Her memories."

Korra glowered defiantly as the man she thought she'd never seen before went pale.

"What's wrong with her memories?" he said woodenly. "What did you do to her?"

Tahno folded his arms behind his head and shrugged nonchalantly, enjoying Mako's consternation.

"We had a little sparring match last night," he said airily. "Korra hit her head and gave herself a concussion."

"Slipping on your ice," Korra muttered, clearly taking offense at his insinuation that she could be so clumsy on her own.

"Details," he said, waving a hand. "But her memories are all jumbled up right now. I've already started healing her, but it'll take some time."

"A-you-_a concussion_?!" Mako hissed. "You gave her a-"

"Technically it was her fault," he shrugged. "She's the one that went and fell."

"On your ice," Korra repeated sullenly.

"The point is, street rat," said Tahno, ignoring her. "For all intents and purposes, she's never met you before in her life."

Mako stared at the pair of them, his face passing white and turning an ashy gray color. He glanced around at their spectators, realizing belatedly that he'd drawn them with his shouting, and they could all see the pure horror on his face. There would no doubt be a new article in the next issue about this latest public outburst.

"If you're done bothering me," Korra said sourly, "I'd like to finish my walk."

"Korra, I-" Mako tried.

"I don't blame your girlfriend for making a run for it," she said disdainfully.

At that precise moment, a bald monk pushed his way through the crowd to Mako's side, and his eyes went as round as saucers when they landed on Korra.

"Master Mako, you found her," he congratulated. When no one answered him, he looked around and absorbed the scene. "Oh...dear…"

Korra had stiffened at Tahno's side.

"Mako…?" she repeated.

Tahno glanced down at her to see her face screwed up like she was in pain. The street rat likewise watched her, still deathly pale.

"You mentioned Mako before," she said to Tahno, her forehead creased as though she was thinking very hard. It looked painful. "This morning, you said something about Mako."

"I did," Tahno acknowledged. "And you ignored what I said like you usually do."

"Did I?" she wondered idly.

"Master Mako," said the monk hesitantly. "What's going on?"

"Korra…" he said, voice hoarse. "Korra's lost her memories."

The air acolyte looked back at the Avatar and, if possible, his eyes grew even wider.

"Avatar Korra," he said. "Is that true?"

"Apparently," she shrugged.

"Oh, dear," the monk fretted, covering his mouth with his hand. "Oh, that's terrible."

"Eh, I'm having fun," said Tahno with another shrug. Everybody, Korra included, gave him their attention long enough to scowl at his devil-may-care behavior, but he didn't especially mind.

"Stuff it, Wolfbat," Mako snapped. "However you were 'helping' Korra, thanks, but we can take her from here."

"Excuse me?" Korra said before Tahno could reply. "You can _take me_? I'm right here, and I'm not putting up with having my choices made for me!"

"Korra," Mako sighed, and his voice softened. It wasn't in a kind way, though, but rather the way one talks to a child who doesn't understand the current situation. "You're obviously confused. Just come home with us, and we can sort this all-"

"I'm not going anywhere with you," Korra said fiercely. "You've done nothing but piss me off since I met you today, so forget it!"

"Look, we can help you," coaxed the Firebender, his patience beginning to wear thin. "You can't trust that guy, Korra, and if you had all your memories you would agree."

"Memories or not, he's been way better to me since I lost them than you have," she retorted.

"That guy's dangerous Korra!" Mako shouted. "Come home, we can help!"

"Unless you have a healer on that island of yours," Tahno interrupted smugly, "the Uh-vatar's probably best left with me."

Mako turned his blazing gaze on the Waterbender, who just smiled complacently and crossed his arms in a lazy fashion. No matter how pissed the Fireferret became, he wouldn't dare risk attacking Tahno out here in broad daylight in front of the crowd that his shouts had attracted.

"It's not your job to decide what's best for Korra," Mako said angrily.

"It's not yours either," he pointed out.

"Like hell it's not! She's my girlfriend!"

Korra bristled at Tahno's shoulder, and he looked down to find that her hands were clenched into fists at her sides so tightly that her knuckles were threatening to break through her dark skin. Her teeth were clenched.

"There's no way I'd ever fall for an attitude like yours!"

Silence such as Tahno had never heard on the streets of Republic City fell as Korra, fuming and ablaze, turned on her heel and marched away, shouldering through the dumbfounded onlookers in her haste to get away from this stranger that infuriated her so immensely. Tahno cast one triumphant look at the Firebender who had frozen over, and then he hurried after the Avatar, slipping through the hole she'd made in the wall of people. He had a feeling that, when Mako tried to follow them, the civilians wouldn't let him through without a fight. By then, the two of them would be long gone.

It didn't take long for Tahno, whose legs were longer and whose steps were surer, to catch up to his charge even amidst the hustle and bustle of the noon traffic in the city. She had only walked for two blocks and then taken a sharp corner into an alleyway and was leaning against the brick wall of the building when he found her, eyes closed and face flushed. His smirk fell as she slipped a couple inches down the wall.

"Dizzy?" he checked, moving hesitantly closer.

"Something...like that," she mumbled.

He helped her down to the ground, where she sat cross-legged with her elbows on her knees and her head in her hands. Tahno sat next to her, leaning back on his palms and waiting for the spell to pass. When he glanced over at her, he thought she looked rather pitiful.

"...Mako," she said quietly.

"Hm?" he said.

"Mako," she replied more clearly. Her voice was thick. "I…I kind of...remember...now."

"_Do_ you?" Tahno asked, eyebrows raised.

"Y-yeah," she said shakily. "Seeing him jogged my memory a bit. It's not much, but…"

"But…?" he prompted curiously.

She glanced up. "Am I really dating that guy?"

Tahno couldn't help a snort of derisive laughter.

"After that episode on the street, I think it's safe to say that you're not," he confided, still chuckling.

"But _was_ I, then?"

Korra's face looked...Tahno wasn't really sure how it looked, as he wasn't in the practice of guessing people's emotions by their expressions, but if he had to guess he would say she looked scared.

"Uh...yeah," he said lamely. "If you can call it that."

"Why would I go out with a guy like that?" she wondered to the empty air. "All I remember are fights."

"He probably just knows what to say after the fact," Tahno said with a shrug. "It's in every man's hardwiring."

She looked over at him. "Is that why you're helping me?" she asked. "Because it's in your 'hardwiring'?"

Tahno opened his mouth to respond, and then closed it again. He wasn't sure he knew why he was helping her. Sure, he didn't want her going off to some random healer and telling them how she got hurt, thereby ruining any reputation he had left, but in her present state he felt that Korra wouldn't have blabbed if he'd told her not to. He wanted to say it was because he was just that swell of a guy, but anyone with half a brain would know that he was just blowing hot air. Korra took his hesitation as confirmation and sighed, setting her forehead in her hands again.

"I guess it doesn't matter," she said, and she sounded sadder than any person had the right to be. "I need your help, and that's all that's important, right?"

"Ah...Korra…" Tahno mumbled, his hand twitching toward her. "That's not-"

"Forget it, Tahno," she said. "I don't know if I even want my memories back, if they're gonna make me change my mind about that guy."

"That's stupid."


	7. Circumstances Change

The words were out before he'd made any conscious decision to say them, but being the stubborn man that he was, Tahno refused to take them back once they were in the open. She whipped around to scowl at his words, her eyes sparking with the old Korra again.

"What's stupid?" she demanded. He scowled right back at her.

"You want to forget everything just so that you don't have to remember the street rat," he said with cold amusement. "That's stupid. If it was me, I'd want to get my memories back as soon as possible so that I could tell him to shove it up his ass and have the words actually mean something."

She blinked, and her fierce expression faltered slightly.

"You can get as pissed as you want with him now," Tahno continued. "But as long as you don't have your memories, Mako can pin it all on that fact and say that once you remember him, everything will be back to normal. That means you won't ever get a break from him, Korra, because he'll keep trying."

She pressed her lips into a thin line and looked away, further down the alley.

"Plus, you've got better memories jumbled in that stupid head of yours too, you know," he pointed out, flicking her ear. "Like when I offered you some _private lessons_."

His voice dropped lower to that same sultry whisper that he'd used that night in Narook's, just before she set that damned polarbear dog on him. Unlike that night, he noticed that goosebumps erupted down her arms. Oh? Perhaps the great and powerful Uh-vatar wasn't as immune to his charms as she pretended?

"You did that?" she wondered.

"I did that," he confirmed, leaning over with a smirk. "And I beat you in the Probending ring, too."

"Only because you cheated."

Tahno pulled up short, and Korra looked around, seemingly surprised herself.

"You remember _that_?" he said in disbelief.

"Well...it just kinda came out…" she said, frowning at the ground. Then she looked back at me. "But yeah, I do remember you cheating. _And_ I remember kicking your butt in sudden death."

"Tch." I pulled away, recalling that bitter defeat. "It was a fluke."

"Whatever, Pretty Boy."

My lips twitched. Ah, her pet name for me. How sweet that she still remembered that.

"Well," he said, rising to his feet and dusting off his pants. "This has been cute, but frankly it's filthy and boring here. Let's continue our romantic walk through the streets of this lovebirds' paradise."

Korra raised her eyebrows at him and eyed the hand he offered her as if it was a third one that he had just grown on the spot (Like he needed an extra). Still looking dubious, she placed her fingers in his and allowed him to pull her to her feet. Still a little off balance from her dizzy spell, she stumbled and fell forward against his chest again like she had that morning, her free hand trapped between them when she tried and failed to catch herself. A startled noise escaped Tahno, who had caught her reflexively and was now holding Korra in his arms without knowing exactly how she had gotten there. He moved his long-fingered hands to her shoulders and attempted to carefully push her away, but her fingers caught the front of his shirt and held her in place.

"Seriously?" he protested, tugging on her wolf tail.

"Sorry," she murmured blearily. "Just a minute...Tired…"

Tahno groaned but let her be, looking around in case any prying eyes saw the curious display and mistook it for anything other than a fainting spell. However, they were alone in the alley. Quite alone.

Even as he made the observation, he felt an uncomfortable heat rise behind his ears. This was the wrong position to be in with the Avatar should anybody walk by and notice them. He shouldn't be letting this girl lean into him like that, her nose tucked into the hollow of his throat and her hand curled loosely in his shirt. But she just looked so pitiful, so helpless, how was he supposed to push her away? He'd never been able to deny a cute face before, and clearly that much of him hadn't changed.

With a sigh he cautiously rested his chin on the crown of her head and set his hands on her lower back, her body heat blazing like a furnace through the thin material of her borrowed top. It was uncommon for a Waterbender to have such a high body temperature, but he supposed that since she was the Avatar, it was just the Firebender in her manifesting. The hand that hadn't been trapped between them dangled uselessly at her side, pinned there by his arms. Her hair smelled like his shampoo.

"...Korra?" he said after a moment.

"Yeah?" he answered quietly.

"I'm not helping you because I'm hardwired to."

"Then why?" Her tone was dubious, stating quite plainly that she didn't believe him in the slightest. He blamed Mako for her state of mistrust.

"No idea," he said honestly.

"If you don't know, doesn't that make it automatic?" she wondered.

"Please," he scoffed. "Impulsive, maybe, but not automatic."

"Impulsive…" she mused.

"You remember what that word means, right?" he checked.

"Idiot, of course I do," she said immediately, firing up somewhat. "Setting Naga on you that night was impulsive."

He chuckled. "Perfect example, Uh-vatar," Tahno congratulated.

Instead of appearing pleased, Korra just heaved a sigh.

"What am I supposed to do?" she said under her breath.

"Do?"

"About my memories. About Mako and that guy Tenzin you mentioned and all those other people I forgot," she elaborated, sounding pained. "What if I forgot something really important? What if I never get all my memories back? What am I supposed to do then?"

Tahno smirked and reached up to flick her ear. "Make new ones," he suggested. "That's the best thing about memories. You can always make more."

"But-"

"I always figured thinking about the past was for losers," Tahno continued, raising his voice over hers. "The people that think too far ahead are stupid, too. It's the people that live in the present that have the most fun."

"How poetic of you," said Korra wryly, and he heard the traces of a smile in her voice, causing his to grow wider.

Tahno tried to guide her away again, satisfied that she was alright, and this time she went without complaint or resistance. She might have still looked a little pale, but her eyes were bright and lively once more, assuring him that she was fine to move on. He offered her his arm, and after giving it the same suspicious look she had given his hand earlier, Korra gingerly placed her palm on his elbow. He then proceeded to yank her in close to his side, pinning her hand between his torso and arm so that she was trapped there. She started to protest, then broke off in a laugh.

For the rest of the day, something shifted tangibly in the air around the pair of them, walking down the streets and looking through the stalls one by one for nothing in particular. Some tension that they hadn't realized had been present had lifted from their shoulders and left them lighter and freer.

If anybody had told Tahno two years ago that he would be walking down the streets of Republic City with the Avatar, laughing and completely at ease, he would have called them crazy. If anybody had told him after that night in Narook's that he would one day actually _enjoy_ the Avatar's company, he would have written them off as a bad comedian and destroyed them through the tabloids that were so fond of him and his band of merry Wolfbats. Even as he talked to her, he couldn't believe that he was actually doing it, _not_ hating the time she spent at his shoulder and occasionally touching his elbow when she felt a little dizzy. What the hell was wrong with him that he was so comfortable around Korra, that loser Fireferret with an attitude way bigger than her small if muscular body could afford?

Korra likewise wasn't quite sure how this turn of events had come about. Yes, her memories were murky in places, but she remembered most of her interactions with Tahno (at least, she thought she did. It was difficult to pinpoint what you forgot) and she remembered that they were hardly best friends. At best they were tolerant acquaintances, and that had only come about after Tahno had lost his bending, the source of all that irritating arrogance that he wore like a second skin. But in spite of that, they were walking side by side and being not only cordial but friendly. She didn't need a perfect memory to know that it was strange, but she didn't particularly mind it. He was actually kind of fun now that his pride had cooled off a little. It probably helped that they were no longer Probending rivals.

After a couple of hours well-filled by dirty humor from Tahno that Korra mostly did not understand, the two found themselves at the park where they'd encountered each other the previous night. The ground was soft and damp, and it squelched under their feet as they walked toward the turtleduck pond that had been reinhabited between that night and the present evening. The birds were floating over the surface of the swollen pond, avoiding the half-submerged brambles that had been drowned in the storm and gulping down bugs and bread crumbs as fast as they came. A couple of little kids were playing near the pond and the taller one bent a little pebble toward one of the turtleducks; it took off with an indignant noise, joined by a couple others as it proceeded to beat its wings around the head of its attacker. The kid cried and took of running, but his partner was laughing too hard to follow.

"Someone's having fun," Korra noted with a smirk.

Tahno glanced down at her, arms behind his head again. She looked quite composed, much calmer than last night, and a thousand times more so than when she returned to Republic City after she'd lost her bending. Tahno would remember that day for the rest of his life as the day that the Avatar had come to save him.

_Tahno was sitting alone in Narook's, the raucous atmosphere that usually accompanied him long absent. It had been replaced by an air of cold solemnity, the byproduct of losing everything that had made him who he was and everyone that had hung around with him. It was hard to accept, even if he'd always known it, that the people around him were only there to share a bit of his fame, his glory, his money. He hadn't really minded it. In fact, he had reveled in the attention, but that was because he never would have imagined that he would lose the draw he held for those people._

_Nobody had joined him at a table in weeks. Or was it months? It didn't matter. Every day was the same when he had to live it like those sad little non-benders out there._

_That was when the door to the restaurant was flung open so violently that it crashed into the wall and sent dust flying from the point of impact. When Tahno looked up with a certain half-baked curiosity, he wasn't all that surprised to see the Avatar standing in the blasted doorway. It was, after all, her favorite way to enter a room. He _was _startled to see that she looked quite harried; her hair was windswept and falling out of its wolf tails, her clothes were disheveled, and the pelt she wore around her waist was twisted so that the tie was sitting over her left hip. Her electric blue eyes were feverish as they scanned the restaurant, and when they locked on him, he was surprised again to see her approach._

"_Well, if it isn't the Uh-vatar," he greeted in a bored voice, pushing his noodles around in their bowl with his chopsticks. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"_

"_Tahno," she started excitedly. "While I was in the South Pole-"_

"_Not chasing Amon," he interjected. She gave him a small glare._

"_Amon's escape ship exploded, Tahno," she informed him. "He's dead. They found his body and Tarrlok's the same night that he got away."_

_He waved an airy hand at her in acknowledgement._

"_While I was in the South Pole," she started again. "I figured out how to do something."_

"_And I care because?" he wondered idly. She raised an eyebrow at him._

"_Because I'll bet you want your bending back."_

_He stiffened and glowered at her. _

"_That isn't funny, little girl," he growled. _

"_It wasn't supposed to be," she retorted. "I can give you back your bending."_

_He looked up at her, clearly not believing her at all. She read his obvious reservation and shrugged, folding her arms and turning away._

"_Alright, fine, whatever," she said nonchalantly. "If your bending really wasn't that important to you, I'll just lea-"_

_His hand was on her elbow without him realizing how it had gotten there. She turned back toward him, grinning smugly._

"_You...Can you really do that?" he wondered. "Not even the best healers in the city could do it."_

"_The best healers in the city aren't the Avatar," she informed him. Then her slender fingers wrapped around his and she pulled him up to his feet, nearly knocking over the table as she began towing him out of the building with a hollered "I'll take care of it!" to Narook, who wasn't thrilled about the apparent dine-and-ditch._

_Narook's was right by the sea, and that was where she led him. The moment their feet hit sand, Korra released his hand and whipped around to face him._

"_On your knees, Pretty Boy," she told him imperiously, but her eyes were glowing with excitement. He raised an eyebrow at her._

"_If I had a dime for every time I heard that," he chuckled, but did as she told him._

"_You'd have a dime," she replied, probably not understanding the joke. _

_When he was on his knees with his hands hanging limply at his sides, Korra stepped close to him, resting a palm against his chest and her thumb against his forehead. She closed her eyes, and a brilliant blue-white light leaked from under her lids even before they opened again. From the points where she touched him, waves of warmth began to pulse through him like waves crashing against the shore. Every time he heard water hit the sandy beach, another pulse of heat went through him. He could feel himself becoming lighter, could feel the locks that bound his bending fracture and scatter like they were made of fragile glass, and he knew. He knew that Korra hadn't been lying or messing with him. She had been telling the truth. With one final pulse, his awareness of the water around him rushed back with enough force to make him tremble, and he understood that there was not a more honest person in existence than Korra, who had found the answer to his problems and rushed to find him and deliver it._

"_Told you," she said complacently as he knelt there, staring at her in shock._

_Slowly, his silver gaze traveled to his hands, and then the sand beneath him, following the grainy earth all the way to the cold blue-gray waters frothing against it. Korra laughed and held out a hand._

"_Haven't you been waiting long enough?" she asked him, smirking. "Go for it. I'll give you the first shot."_

"-hungry?"

Tahno blinked. Korra was looking up at him, her expression wry.

"What?" he said. "I wasn't paying attention.

"Yeah, obviously," she snorted. "I asked if you were hungry."

He considered her question, then shrugged.

"You asking me on a dinner date, Uh-vatar?" he teased.

"Dream on, Pretty Boy."


	8. Whispers In The Dark

"You look like you've just killed a man," said Tenzin upon Mako's return to the island. "What happened? Did you find Korra?"

"Oh, I found her alright," the Firebender growled. "Draped all over that stinking Wolfbat Tahno."

"What?" said Tenzin, aghast.

"Avatar Korra was with the probender Tahno," said the monk that accompanied Mako. "Master Tenzin, it seems she has a concussion and has lost some of her memories. The boy is healing her head injuries presently."

"A concussion?!" Tenzin cried in disbelief. "She needs a proper healer, not some novice athlete!"

"Well, an athlete would be knowledgeable on healing, though," offered the monk. "They have to look after their own injuries, after all. They seemed to be alright, both of them."

"Define alright," Mako snapped. "She didn't remember me _at all_! She probably doesn't even remember Tenzin! It was like I was speaking a foreign language to her earlier."

"Mako, get some rest," Tenzin advised. "I will take care of Korra from here."

"Yeah," he said darkly. "Good luck."

Tenzin ignored that, striding straight past the young temperamental Firebender toward the docks that he had just vacated. He wouldn't need to take the large ship for himself, so he stepped into a small rowboat and made to leave. Before he had untied the craft, however, the acolyte that had been with Mako came hurrying toward him waving his arms and spurring him to wait.

"Yes?" he asked. "What is it?"

"Master Tenzin," said the monk respectfully. "I believe that it might be best to leave Avatar Korra as she is for the time being."

"What? Are you mad?!" Tenzin blustered. "She needs to be home where I can look after her! I wouldn't trust that Wolfbat as far as I could throw him!"

"With your bending, you could throw him pretty far," the monk pointed out. Tenzin's face reddened.

"That's beside the point! I must remove Korra from that fool's hands before he confuses her any further!"

"Master Tenzin, trying to do anything now will only upset the Avatar," the man said rationally. "She is tense and worried without all of her memories. Approaching her now to say what is best for her will not be welcomed, I am sure of it. The best thing we can do for her is keep in correspondence with the boy Tahno, or keep an eye on her ourselves. She will not come back to the island as she is."

Tenzin glowered balefully at the monk, but he knew that the man was only doing what he felt to be right. He was not suggesting that they abandon Korra to the mercy of that cheating sneak, but rather keep an eye on both of them without directly interfering. It was not a far stretch that Korra would be obstinate and immovable presently, as on-edge as she doubtlessly felt. She was incredibly tenacious for far less. The girl would go nowhere if she did not want to, so perhaps it would be best to leave her to her own devices for the time being. Tenzin had certainly never managed to persuade her otherwise once she had made up her mind on a matter.

The Air Master heaved a great sigh, his shoulders slumping as he climbed back out of the small rowboat with its double bench. It rocked with the movement, sending ripples over the water that were swallowed up almost at once by the larger waves of the untamed sea. The acolyte bowed his head without another word and then flanked Tenzin back to the temple, where he saw that Korra would be under a constant but discreet watch until she returned safely to the temple.

* * *

Across the waters once more and through the less-crowded streets of the city, again through the open window of a certain flat not far from the park, Korra was watching as the summer sun sank past the buildings, reaching across the sky with stubborn scarlet fingers as though it could claw its way back to its height. However, in no time the fingers faded as the sun dipped below the horizon, its efforts wasted until morning came. It was replaced by the silver of a half moon, accompanied sparingly only by the stars strong enough to shine brighter than the city's residual glow that served to stave off the weaker specks of light. She was sitting alone in the one armchair in the main room, her elbows leaning on the windowsill as she watched the cycle of day and night and tried to remember doing so before, but the memories would not be forced to the surface.

Her mind kept wandering back to that young man she'd seen on the streets. Horrible, ill-tempered and self-centered and commandeering, she couldn't imagine that any girl would have wanted to date him, and yet...And yet according to the accounts of others, _she_ had gone steady with him, fancying herself in love. In love with someone like _that_? She wanted to beat her head senseless against the window frame, but worried that such an action might result in her coming to like that boy Mako again, and she did not especially want that. When she concentrated very hard, she could remember his face, but it was always dyed as angry red, screwed up in frustration or contempt or whatever the hell else might have made him look so sour. She never recalled him kindly, nor did she recall any kind feelings she herself felt for him. Yet surely there must have been something, for she couldn't have been fool enough to fall for him had there not been some redeeming quality.

"You make thinking look painful."

She rolled her eyes and turned to face the room. Tahno stood leaning against the doorframe that led to the entrance hallway and then the hall that housed the bedrooms and bathroom. He had changed out of his perfectly coiffed clothes in favorite of a pair of loose-fitting drawstring pants in midnight blue and no shirt to speak of. His chest was pale enough to glow in the moonlight filtering through the window, but it wasn't as unattractive a palor as it might have been on someone who took less care of their body. He was in good shape, there was no harm in admitting that, and his broad shoulders led to a tapered waist naturally, making his fair skin quite excusable.

"See something you like, Uh-vatar?" he teased with a smirk, and Korra realized belatedly that she was openly staring at his athletic physique. Heat seared her cheeks and she hastily looked away, not trusting herself to reply without a humiliated stutter.

Tahno, enjoying the view, slid his hands in his pockets and padded closer on bare feet to see it close up, bending at his hips when she turned away from him so that his eyes were on a level with hers. Her cheeks were dark and her teeth tugged at her lower lip. Taking his sweet time, Tahno leaned back and moved to draw the curtains over the window.

"You should sleep," he told her in the semi darkness. "You're still recovering."

"I'm fine," she said at once, more out of habit than because she was being defiant. Tahno found that he rather liked her attitude, and the fact that it had become second nature to her. It was entertaining.

"I never doubted _that_," he chuckled, and this time even Korra understood his implications. Her blush deepened. "But a little extra beauty sleep wouldn't hurt either."

She clicked her teeth and made to stand up, but Tahno was so close that she slumped right back into the chair lest she run smack into him. He raised an eyebrow at her obvious discomfort and took a step closer, his eyes glowing predator-like in the darkness. Korra found herself shrinking back against the chair.

"Problem, Uh-vatar?" he wondered, placing a hand on the arm of the chair and leaning closer.

"Yeah," she said, but her would-be-defiant tone came out too breathy to be convincing. "You obviously have no concept of personal space."

"Doesn't seem to bother you," he noted, his other hand reaching out to touch the darkened color in her cheeks. "Or do you always blush when you're mad? You seemed alright with the street rat earlier…"

She scowled at him and swatted his hand aside, but her heart was thundering in her chest.

"C'mon, Uh-vatar," he purred silkily. "What's goin' on in that pretty head of yours?"

Left with nowhere to go, Korra felt a rush of courage and pushed away from the back of the armchair, deciding that Tahno was definitely _not_ going to see her cowering against the cushions. He raised his eyebrows at her as she straightened up, bringing their faces very close to each other. Her cheeks were still burning, but she met Tahno's gaze head-on nonetheless.

"What do you think you're doing?" she demanded, crossing her arms over her chest.

"It's not often I get to see you flustered," he teased. "I'm enjoying the view."

She scowled at him, but that only seemed to increase his amusement.

"Y'know," he said, voice low. "If you wanna forget about that Firebender, I have some ideas."

Her gaze narrowed. "Like what?" she said hesitantly.

His smirk grew as he leaned in, sliding his hand to her knee. "Like this."

It took Korra a moment to register when something soft pressed against firmly her lips, and another moment to recognize that said something was very warm. A moment after that, she understood that the _something_ was a pillow-like heat pack that Tahno had hidden in the back of his pants, tucked into the waistline and had just pressed against her face.

"Mmph!" Korra protested, reaching up and swatting at him irately. The pack fell onto her lap as he danced away, laughing outright at her flustered reaction.

"What were you thinking, Uh-vatar?" he teased, still grinning broadly in a self-satisfied sort of way. "You didn't think those private lessons were still available, did you?"

She scowled at him with all the wrath of an angry spirit, and he started to wither, wondering if he had just induced the Avatar State in his confined living room. However, her eyes stayed electric blue and refrained from going all glowy on him, so he relaxed again, noticing once he did that Korra's cheeks were much darker than they usually were. That was interesting. She was blushing a lot lately.

"Well," Tahno amended. "I guess if it's _you_, I could squeeze in a lesson or two…"

"Don't flatter yourself," she snapped, making to fling the heat pack right in his smug face.

"That works better on your neck or back," he informed her.

Korra hesitated mid-throw, eyeing him cautiously. Was he actually being helpful, or did he get the pack just to be a prick? It didn't really matter though seeing as she already had it herself, so whether he meant to be nice or not, she could make the most of it. When he saw that she had relaxed, he held out a hand.

"C'mon," he said. "I'll put it on once you lay down."

She rolled her eyes but took his offered hand, allowing Tahno to help her up and fully expecting him to drop her fingers the second she was on her feet as though they were dirty or else too hot. However, he kept a hold of her as he led her down the hall to the room in the back, the one where he'd taken her earlier to get some fresh clothes. At least he wasn't trying to convince her to share his bed. She really might have gone Avatar State on him on purpose just to scare him into behaving for once.

Once in the room Tahno released her hand and gestured to the bed. Hesitantly Korra walked forward, the heat pack still in her hands, but caution deserted her at the prospect of a soft warm bed when her exhaustion from the day set in, and she flung herself onto the mattress fully clothed, not even bothering to get under the blankets. Tahno chuckled a little at that but made no comment on her getting his clothes wrinkled. He moved to her side without a word and gently wrested the heat pack from her grip, tugging up her shirt a little and sliding it onto her bare lower back. She made an audible noise of surprise and relaxed almost at once, sighing contentedly.

"You weren't kidding," she mumbled. "That really does feel great."

"I know my stuff, Uh-vatar," he said with that self-important tone he used so well. However, looking down at her, he felt some of his arrogance leave him to be replaced by something softer, something he couldn't name. "I'll be right back."

"Where're you going?" she asked, tone already bleary.

"I'm gonna get some water and try to fix your head," he told her, ducking out of the room.

What had been up with that weird atmosphere in the living room? The air had felt hot for reasons completely separate from that heat pack-one of his finer pranks, he though-and it had pressed on him heavily like the instant during a storm before the lightning struck. All he could think about was the way Korra had looked in the semi-darkness, her electric blue eyes glowing like a cat's and her cheeks blushing darkly. She'd been so close, but he'd had a strong desire to move even closer, to not have any distance at all. He'd felt lust before, of course, and he was not generally in the business of denying himself the simple pleasures in life, but for some reason this time he had held back. Why?

He shook his head like Korra's polarbear dog might rid itself of water and gave a long, languid stretch. It wasn't so strange that he would avoid such a situation with the Avatar. If the media had been after her relationship with Mako, what would they say if they found out that _he_ had a thing with her? If they caught wind that Korra was even staying with Tahno, their reputations were pretty much doomed anyway. No need to add fuel to _that_ particular fire.

But if that was all there was to it, why was his hand still burning where it had touched her?


	9. Injury's The Early Riser

The next morning, Korra woke up before Tahno again and ran to the bathroom, her stomach heaving. The nausea had been all but nonexistent as the previous day had progressed, but it returned with a vengeance the moment her bleary eyes had opened, and she had to stagger as quickly as she could to the restroom before she puked all over his spare room. She didn't even bother to flick the light on as she lurched to the toilet, but she'd barely made it when the darkness dissipated from the space anyhow. Too preoccupied to see how or why, she made an educated guess as she threw up everything but the remainder of her memories, and was proven right a moment later.

"Again?"

Bare feet padded over the tile floor, but instead of cringing like he had the morning before, Tahno knelt down next to her and gathered her hair, pulling it away from her face. Had she been in a slightly better condition, she might have marveled at that and wondered what changed, but Korra did little pondering at all.

"You weren't feeling sick yesterday, were you?" Tahno asked, confused.

Not trusting herself to speak, Korra shook her head.

"Do you think it's getting worse?"

She shook her head again. He sighed heavily.

"You're hopeless, Uh-vatar," he told her. "What would you do without me?"

A tick started beneath her eye, but she didn't risk turning to glare at him. If she had, she would've most likely frozen with that expression on her face in shock, because Tahno's face didn't lend to his mocking superior tone. His trademark smug smirk was jarringly absent, his brow furrowed in an unusual display of emotion.

Korra's stomach rolled again and braced herself, but nothing more came out. Just dry heaves. Tahno carefully removed the drawstring in the waistband of his sweats and used it to tie her hair back just in case another bout of sickness caught her, and then moved to the side of the tub.

"It might not be getting worse," he noted, pulling water from the tap. "But it's not getting any better, either. I think I'm doing something wrong."

His frustration was evident. Tahno wasn't used to being inept, wasn't used to not knowing how to do something, and he sure wasn't used to failing. However new he was to this healing business, he should've been able to bring about _some_ kind of improvement, but nothing seemed to have changed. Still, he also wasn't used to giving up, so he began to move the water across the base of her head, watching the glow take hold as he focused on mending the part he'd hurt to begin with.

Slowly, some of the tension left her shoulders, and her trembling arms fell slack at her sides as she sat back on her legs. He could tell he was in the right area by her reactions, and he could _feel_ the part that needed to be fixed, but why wouldn't it just work? It was right beneath his palms, he could sense it, and it didn't feel any different than the first time. Well...That wasn't entirely true. Some of the smaller breaks seemed to have gone, but that wasn't what he'd been trying to fix to begin with. He'd been working at the major damage, the part affecting her memory and apparent morning sickness, and that hadn't budged an inch. Tahno was beginning to wonder if Korra's head simply couldn't be influenced one way or the other; if her stubbornness went all the way down to her bones.

"You're not," she mumbled after some time had passed.

"Huh?" he said, pausing.

"You're not doing anything wrong," she elaborated.

"Then why isn't anything changing?" he snorted humorlessly.

"Healing is hard," she pointed out. "It took me years to learn how to do it, and the best I can manage is damage to muscles and tissue. Going all the way down to the bone and past it is advanced stuff. Katara can do it, but I never got the hang of it. The fact that I can feel _something_ working is pretty amazing in and of itself, Pretty Boy."

He raised an eyebrow and continued with his efforts. "Well, it's no secret that I'm better than you, Uh-vatar."

Her elbow came out of nowhere and caught him square in the ribs. Startled and spiteful, Tahno let the water fall from his power to drench her head and shoulders.

"H-hey!" she spluttered, goosebumps erupting down her arms.

"You shouldn't provoke a healer," he teased. "'Specially not one with such an unfair advantage."

"Whatever," Korra huffed, turning to glare at him.

He just smirked and rose to his feet, going to the counter for a washcloth and returning with the bright white cloth crushed in his long fingers. Korra glowered at him the whole way, but that expression faltered when he bent the water from her hair and used it to soak the cloth. Confusion took precedence then, but when he reached out, her face flushed darkly in humiliation. He dabbed at her mouth quite calmly with the damp cloth, wiping away the traces of her illness earlier, all the while she tried to avoid meeting his gaze. He enjoyed her reaction and tried to prolong the process, but soon enough her lips were clean and he tossed the soiled cloth into the clothes hamper nearby.

When she still refused to look at him, he sighed and rose to his feet, bending backwards and hearing several satisfying _cracks_ as his back popped. He turned away without a word and loped out of the bathroom quite content, leaving her kneeling on the floor looking confused and embarrassed. Tahno didn't know what had changed between this morning and the previous one, but when he'd heard her fumbling to the bathroom this time he'd felt worried rather than disgusted. He supposed it was just because he'd seen the extent of her instability over the course of the day that he'd felt more compassionate, but he couldn't deny that it was still strange.

Glancing at his clock as he passed his room, he bit back a resigned curse. It was barely five in the morning. She had no sense of appropriate timing. Briefly Tahno wondered at the practicality of crawling back into bed to get a few more hours of shut-eye, but quickly dismissed the notion as foolish. Once he was up, he was up for the day. He wasn't one of those people who could fall asleep at will, though he envied those that could. He groaned and stretched his arms over his head. He might as well start breakfast, if he was up and about, but first he should grab a shirt. His flat was a little on the chilly side, and that was less welcome in the god-forsaken hours before the sun rose.

Ducking into his bedroom, he grabbed the long-sleeved shirt that he'd worn yesterday from where it was draped over the foot of his bed and pulled it on, shuddering a little at the touch of the cool fabric. Fully expecting the Avatar to have returned to her bed, Tahno was startled to find her in his doorway when he turned around, but he grinned in amusement nonetheless. Her cheeks were still dark, and her gaze was fixed resolutely on the floor, but she wasn't moving either.

"It's dangerous to be caught alone in a man's bedroom, Uh-vatar," he purred, advancing. "You never know what might happen."

Her head whipped up so that she could scowl at him, and though she didn't say it, he could read her thoughts clear enough in her blazing eyes. _Go ahead and try something. I dare you_.

Tempting. But-

"You should go back to sleep," he told her, passing her in his doorway. Their shoulders brushed and she jumped like a skittish cat. "It's still dark out."

"...Right…" she mumbled, but he felt her eyes on his back and stopped halfway down the hall, glancing over his shoulder.

"What is it?" he said, recognizing the tone in her voice. There was something she had to say, and she didn't know how to say it.

"Uh…" she said, scuffing her feet on the floor.

"Spit it out, Uh-vatar," he jeered. "You finally gonna confess your love for me?"

It had the desired effect. His words caused her to lock gazes with him, her eyes once again hard and fierce. He knew which buttons to push.

"Shut up, Pretty Boy," she snapped. "I wanted to say thank you, alright?"

He came up short, blinking in surprise. Sure, he hadn't truly expected a confession, but neither had he expected any show of gratitude. Certainly not this early in the morning. He narrowed his gaze, looking over her from head to toe.

"You sleep-walking, Korra?" he wondered. She scowled.

"Shut up," she said again. "Of course I'm not sleep-walking!"

Tahno raised an eyebrow and then shrugged. "Okay then. You're welcome."

She didn't respond and he rolled his eyes, continuing on his way to the kitchen.

"You should go back to sleep," he told her again. "You need rest."

He got no answer, but he heard as her bare feet slowly padded back to the spare room. He shook his head and paused again, hesitating in the entrance to the kitchen. Something...was definitely different. Something had changed. His heart was beating too fast in a chest that felt too tight. What was it? When had it happened? Yesterday? Last night? While he was asleep? Tahno leaned against the wall and ran a hand over his face. This was bad. This was a very, very bad idea. If the media even found out that she was staying here, they'd both be royally screwed. What would they do if he acted on this strange new atmosphere, this strange new feeling? He'd already been torn down during the time he'd lost his bending for cheating in the ring and being a total womanizer, neither of which were untrue but were once downplayed because he had the skill to get money and enough money to hire the best lawyers to tear his accusers to ribbons. She was being razed up one side and down the other for not being fast enough with her "Avatar duties" and for being in an unhealthy relationship, which was really nobody's business anyway.

Then again…

He glanced down the hall, his heart still hammering. The media couldn't do much worse than they had already. What would they say, assuming any word reached them? That Korra had moved on? That he was back to his playboy ways? They could call him a homewrecker, and they could try to call Korra unfaithful, but after that nasty scene on the public street yesterday it was pretty obvious that she and Mako were through. They couldn't say anything that hadn't already been said in some fashion. It might still suck, they might still get some dirty looks, but at the end of the day, what did a few nasty words matter? People forgot about gossip rag trash the moment new stuff came out. In all likelihood, any negative publicity would last maybe a month at most.

So then, the question was: Was Tahno willing to take that risk?


	10. Damn the Media

The door inched inward at his touch, and he quietly slipped into the unlit bedroom, giving his eyes a moment to adjust to the gloom. A single line of dull orange light sliced between the drawn curtains from a street lamp outside, streaking across the room and splitting it in half. Korra was already curled on the bed again, this time beneath the covers, her back to the window. She looked for all the world like she could have already fallen asleep again, and for a moment he felt a flare of irritation that she could do that, but a floorboard creaked beneath his feet and she cracked open one blue eye.

"What do you want?" she grumbled without lifting her head. "Aren't you the one that told me to go to sleep?"

"Yeah, well, I'm fickle," Tahno replied in amusement, crossing the empty space with his slow, graceful strides.

Korra looked up at him when he paused next to the bed, and she frowned.

"What?" she wondered warily, pushing herself up so that she was sitting and leaning back on her hands. "I can't really sleep if you come in here randomly to make fun of me."

He smirked and placed his hands on the bed, leaning down toward her with a smirk.

"But teasing you is how I get through every day, Uh-vatar," he said, voice low. "It gets me off."

She scowled at him and sat up fully, brushing him aside.

"Do you have an off switch?" she asked. "It's too early for your stupid jokes."

"Who said I was joking, Korra?"

She stiffened and reluctantly looked over at him again, her eyes darkly uncertain. The corner of his mouth twitched up at her hesitancy, and he felt inexplicably proud all over again that he could throw her so completely off-balance with just a few choice words. Still, she was also one of the few people that could do the same to him; take him off-guard and leave him floundering, wondering where on earth this devil woman had come from.

He leaned in closer, and his heartbeat skyrocketed. She wasn't moving nearer, but neither was she moving away. Korra was staying exactly where she was, either too confused or too surprised to move, or maybe too scared. Her gaze was locked on his, seeming to ask some kind of question that he didn't really understand. Their noses were touching when he paused.

"Now's your only chance, Uh-vatar," he said softly. "Move away."

But she didn't. She stayed right where she was, watching him with her bright, cat-like eyes, her hands still resting in her lap. He waited, her breath ghosting across his lips, for her to come to her senses and shove him aside or else scramble away so frantically that she smacked her head on the headboard and caused more damage for him to have to try and fix. He waited, and waited, but she didn't move a muscle.

"You're just full of surprises," he chuckled, and then he closed the remaining distance.

There were no fireworks, no magical fairies that appeared as he sealed their lips together, nothing caught fire as a result of her losing control of her bending in a fit of passion, nobody went wild in a sudden outpouring of violent lust, but that wasn't to say that there was nothing special when he kissed her. She was warm, her lips softer than he'd expected, and his chest squeezed painfully tight when a hand that wasn't his brushed his fingers on the rumpled covers. He turned his palm up and laced his fingers through hers, noting as he did that hers really were small.

When they parted, the room was still dark and devoid of fairies and fireworks, but it didn't matter. Korra's eyes were bright enough that they could have outshone both, her cheeks warm enough to make up for the lack of reckless, passionate firebending gone awry. He realized that his own face felt too warm, especially around his ears, and he looked away, unused to being the one affected so.

Korra was the first to break the tense silence.

"So…" she started, and when he looked around, she was smiling like an imp. "About those private lessons…"

He chuckled and shoved her back down onto the bed.

"I didn't mean what you think I did," he informed her.

She raised an eyebrow, but he just shook his head, smirking. He leaned in to catch another quick kiss, then jumped off her bed and loped out of the room, lips burning.

Tahno let her sleep after that, making breakfast with a new spring in his step. When she woke up for the second time, it was to the smell of bacon and toast wafting through the flat. She came into the kitchen in search of the source of that wonderful smell, and there was the briefest awkward moment in which both of them wondered how to act. However, at its core nothing had changed, and they interacted as easily as they ever had, jabbing and taunting as per usual. Still, there was a tension in the air, a question unspoken but apparent to both of them, one that needed an answer that neither thought they could provide.

Korra was the one to ask.

"So...now what?" she asked hesitantly after licking her plate clean. Tahno paused in the act of picking it up, meeting her gaze reluctantly.

"Now what?" he echoed. "No idea, Uh-vatar."

She sighed and looked out the window.

"The press is gonna have a field day when they find out," she sighed.

"When?" he repeated, surprised. "What do you mean, when?"

Her brow furrowed. "Do you really think they won't? Because if you do, you're dumber than you look."

His lips twitched, but he understood the seriousness of what she said.

"Well...No, I don't think we can hide it from them," he admitted. "I'd be more worried about what your Fireferret does when he finds out, though."

"Tch," she clicked her teeth irately. "Who cares?"

"Since it's me he'll attack, I'd say I do," Tahno offered, his smirk growing. "Though I'd be glad for the excuse to go one-on-one with him."

Korra rolled her eyes.

"It's a guy thing, isn't it?" she said. Tahno shrugged.

"Probably," he allowed. "But I'm not most guys, now, am I?"

Korra looked at him and snorted. "Uh, pretty much. You're as obnoxious and arrogant and conceited as most of them," she confided. "You think no girl's life is complete until she's been around the block with you."

He clutched at his heart, feigning injury.

"Oh, Korra, you wound me!" he cried. "I can't believe you think so little of me."

Korra looked at him, her solemnity hanging on for about thirty seconds before she busted up into raucous laughter.

"I knew you were dramatic, but come on!" she laughed, throwing her head back. He raised an eyebrow at her.

"Whenever you're done laughing at me, you can go shower," he said, lips twitching. "We're going out again today."

She waved off his words and excused herself from the table, still chuckling as she made her way down the hall to the bathroom. He shook his head after her and then set the dishes in the sink for him to wash later, when he felt like it. For now to went into the living room and flopped onto the couch, flipping on the radio on the coffee table and settling down.

"_-was there, I saw the whole thing!"_ a voice said through the crackly speakers.

"_And what did you see, exactly?"_ asked the loud, crisp voice of the radio host.

"_Well, it's like you said at the beginning,"_ the person said. "_She just blew him off completely! Didn't remember a thing about him."_

"_She didn't even remember his name,"_ a third voice chimed in. "_It was like she'd never met him!"_

Tahno glanced around at the radio, though there was hardly anything to see. Were they talking about the incident that happened yesterday? He turned the volume dial up, the better to hear.

"_Avatar Korra really doesn't remember Mako at all?"_ the host said, sounding amazed. Tahno closed his eyes and sighed through his nose. Looks like the gossip was too good to wait for in the next tabloid; it had to be reported immediately through the radio.

"_Sure didn't seem like it,"_ the first voice said. "_The guy she was with was enjoying the whole thing, too."_

"_Yeah, that Tahno guy from the Wolfbats,"_ the second bystander added. "_He was with her, and he was definitely getting a kick out of the whole thing."_

"_There you have it folks,"_ said the radio host with gusto. "_Avatar Korra's lost her memories and doesn't even remember her unhealthy romance. Is it just a ruse to escape more attention from the media after the enlightening article in the tabloids, or has she truly forgotten her questionable boyfriend Mako? And where does the infamous Probending dropout Tahno fit into the whole sordid affair? Stay tuned as we delve into this new story!"_

Tahno clicked his tongue and switched the radio off again, irritation swelling inside him. They hadn't even gotten twenty-four hours of peace. Within an hour there would be reporters and radio broadcasters pounding down his door for the latest scoop on the Avatar. He clambered back to his feet and strode down the hall, entering the bathroom without warning or permission.

"H-hey!" Korra exclaimed when the door swung inward. Luckily she was already in the shower, hidden behind the curtain, but that didn't detract from her embarrassment. "What are you doing in here?!"

"You need to hurry up," Tahno said in lieu of responding. "Our misadventure yesterday was just on the radio. Reporters'll be beating down my door soon enough unless we get out of here."

"Hold on, what-" Korra sputtered.

"Just hurry up. We should leave," Tahno said curtly, then swept out of the bathroom again, going straight for his bedroom.

He traded his sweatpants and old shirt for a pair of nondescript jeans and a pale olive shirt of his usual style, barely taking the time to run a comb through his hair before going to her bedroom and pawing through the drawers for something she could wear. He still hadn't washed her normal clothes, so he pulled out a pair of dark-washed jeans and a shirt like those he'd seen Asami Sato wearing, folding them together and setting a pair of boots that looked close to Korra's size on top, taking them into the bathroom. True to request, Korra was hurriedly finishing her shower and was actually in the process of toweling off when he re-entered.

He ignored her indignant splutters as he tossed the clothes onto the counter, but he did feel uncomfortably hot around the ears from walking in on Korra wearing nothing but hastily donned white linen. He retreated and closed the door behind him, wincing when something heavy hit the wood instead of his head.

Where they were going to go, he wasn't sure. People on the street would definitely recognize them, might even be looking for them, so they were unlikely to escape scrutiny that easily. He could take her to Air Temple Island, but that Firebender was there and they were unlikely to ever hear the end of it if he saw them. Still…

"Ever heard of knocking?" Korra demanded, bursting through the bathroom door and nearly colliding with his back. "It would've taken an extra thirty seconds!"

"Yeah, yeah," he said insincerely, taking her hand and leading her down the hall. "I'll apologize properly or whatever once we're out of here and away from prying ears."

"Were we really on the radio?" Korra wondered as I towed her onto the landing outside. I didn't bother locking the door before taking her around the back way.

"A couple of witnesses were," Tahno groaned, watching warily for anyone that no longer looked like an innocent civilian. "Keep your head down, we're going to the docks. Don't talk to anyone, don't look at anyone. If we don't attract attention to ourselves, we might make it with no one realizing it's us."

"Oh, for Agni's sake," Korra sighed, exasperated. "Who cares if they do realize it's us? What does it matter?"

Tahno looked around at her, eyebrows raised. "Your reputation's taken enough of a beating for now, and so has mine. What do you think they'll have to say about you being with me when most people still think you're stupidly dating that street rat Mako?"

Korra puffed out her cheeks angrily. "I don't care what they say about it," she said bluntly. "And I don't see why you do. I made it clear that I wanted nothing to do with him."

Tahno groaned and tried to pull her after him, but she didn't budge. He tugged harder, but she gave one vicious jerk and nearly sent him tumbling to the ground. With an aggravated groan he dropped her wrist and raked a hand through his raven hair.

"You pick the worst times to be stubborn, Uh-vatar," he snapped at her. She didn't react.

He looked around, finally thankful that his flat wasn't on the main drag and as such didn't have large amounts of people milling about just outside. If he couldn't get her moving soon, though, it wouldn't really matter where his flat was because the media would hardly have a tough time finding it, and they would find him and the Avatar right outside, glaring daggers at each other. He clapped his hands down on her shoulders forcefully, causing her to wince.

"Look, Uh-vatar, Fire boy pissed you off enough on his own," said Tahno, voice low and dangerous. Being tough on her always seemed to work better than being gentle. "You want a hundred more people like him pestering you about every little aspect of your life? A hundred more people like him pressing and kneading for every bit of information they can get their filthy hands on? Because that's what the media is. A bunch of two-faced selfish bastards with their own agendas who wanna make a quick buck by exposing all your dirty little secrets. If you want to deal with their annoying asses, be my guest. But I don't."

She blinked at him, her brow creasing. "But I haven't done anything wrong," she argued.

"They don't care," he told her, exasperated. "They'll make it look like you did because it'll get them more reviews. They don't care about what's true, they care about what's entertaining. People lap up scandals like this; they're like candy."

Korra frowned. "That's...messed up," she said slowly.

Tahno rolled his eyes and took her elbow again, his long fingers nearly touching each other around her lean arm.

"Yeah, it is, but now's not the time to wonder about their morals," Tahno pointed out. "They're gonna be at my door any time now wanting the latest scoop, and they'll have a field day if they find out you've been staying with me. We need to get you back to Air Temple Island."

"Right…" she sighed heavily. "You're coming too, right?"

He raised an eyebrow at her.

"What? Afraid you'll miss me?" he teased. She rolled her eyes and clicked her teeth.

"You're so full of yourself," she noted.

"Yeah, you've made that clear," Tahno responded with a chuckle. "Now will you move your ass?"


	11. Water Conducts Electricity

Tahno couldn't have hoped for better timing if he'd had all the spirits on his side. He and Korra had reached the docks just as the ship bound for the island was getting ready to make way, and when they saw their beloved Avatar, they of course allowed them both hasty passage aboard. Nobody had seen them go; it was like they had been invisible as they hurried along the crowded streets, trying to blend in and avoid any searching eyes. As they had passed by one particular shop, Tahno had heard over their radio that a horde of reporters and radio hosts were congregating outside his flat and thanked his lucky stars that he had enough experience with the paparazzi to know how to avoid them.

Korra was at the bow of the ship, crouching down on the wooden planks of the deck and leaning back against the railing, her face pale. He'd run her hard to get to the docks on an empty stomach, and it showed. Hit with a wrenching dizzy spell the moment they slowed down, Korra looked like Hell froze over, her skin pale and her eyes unfocused. He felt a little bad, but he knew that their other option was to be bombarded with obnoxious questions and risk her passing out right in front of everyone from overstimulation.

With nothing left to do but wait until they reached the island, Tahno made his way to Korra's side and crouched down, watching her cautiously.

"What?" she mumbled.

"You look like hell, Uh-vatar," he informed her, wanting to grin but finding that he didn't enjoy the sight as much as he might have a week ago. He was rapidly coming to understand that her weakness wasn't amusing, but downright terrifying. For that stubborn girl to show any kind of weakness, she had to really be hurting, and he wasn't...glad for her suffering. He knew how it felt to be that helpless now, and he knew how it felt to fear losing everything you had in one fell swoop.

Korra snorted.

"Can't imagine why," she said, glancing up at him with a wry expression. He raised an eyebrow at her.

"I can't believe a little run is enough to drive you into the ground," he said in lieu of concern. She wouldn't appreciate worry. She rarely appreciated anything of the sort. It was best to tease her; that was the quickest and most effective way to fire her up.

"Shut up," she snapped, a little strength entering her voice. He suppressed a smug grin. He understood her better than she thought, and better than he'd ever expected. Be nice and gentle, and she'd never get anywhere; be firm and unyielding, and she'd get it together and save the world.

Lips twitching up into a smirk, Tahno leaned slowly in, moving so close that their foreheads touched before he stopped. She looked up at him with raised eyebrows.

"I bet I can make you feel better," he purred. She rolled her eyes and pushed him away.

"Seriously, do you have an off switch?" she wondered.

"My off switch would be cranky Fireferrets, mostly male," Tahno informed her. She rolled her eyes.

"Well join the club," she said heavily. "Looks like we're gonna be with both male Fireferrets when we get to the island, and one of them is definitely gonna be cranky."

"True enough," Tahno shrugged. "But then shouldn't I take advantage of the time before we have to wade through Mako's angst?"

"There are better ways to take advantage of the time," Korra said dryly.

"Oh? Like what?" Tahno said in reply. "I know many excellent ways to do that, but they all involve your participation, Uh-vatar."

"I don't want to know," she decided resolutely. He noticed that as they spoke, she had regained some color in her cheeks and her voice had gotten stronger.

"I don't think ignorance really is bliss," the waterbender told her airily. "But hey, what do I know?"

"Not much, clearly."

"Ouch."

She rolled her eyes and looked around the ship. Air Acolytes were scurrying to and fro, carrying boxes and checking the rigging. One called out loudly that they were almost to the island, causing Korra to heave a great sigh and plant her hand on the railing behind her to hoist herself up. She stumbled a little before she straightened up, but Tahno didn't dare offer her help until she asked, valuing his good looks too much to risk her getting touchy with him and throwing a punch because he thought she couldn't take care of herself. He could easily have argued that she couldn't take care of herself, otherwise he wouldn't be with her in the first place, but again, he valued his face.

"This won't be fun," she muttered under her breath, looking up at the temple.

"I guess we'll see," Tahno shrugged. Then something occurred to him. "Uh, you do remember the kids, right?"

She glanced up at him. "Kids?"

Tahno closed his eyes and blew a long, slow breath out through his nose, fighting a mad desire to laugh when he thought of Korra meeting the hyperactive Airbending children for the first time. She prodded him in the side, looking irked that he wasn't elaborating on his question, but he just brushed her off and slunk to the spot where the gangplank would soon be lowered. She followed reluctantly.

"Can Mako bend lightning?" Korra wondered idly. He glanced down at her.

"Uh...I think so," he responded. "Why do you care?"

"Just wondering. Water conducts electricity, so I probably shouldn't Waterbend him then, huh?"

Tahno stared at her for a moment. Then he started to laugh.

"Is that always your first thought when you meet someone?" Tahno asked. "I mean, I'm not surprised, but wow."

She stuck her tongue out at him.

"Shut up, Pretty Boy," she snapped. "I have no problem Waterbending _you_."

"Careful," he warned. "Picking a fight with me was what started all this, remember, Uh-vatar?"

She rolled her eyes but said nothing, preferring instead to hurry down the gangplank and onto solid ground. Tahno was on his way down when he heard for the second time in as many days that one unwelcome voice.

"Korra!"

Tahno glanced at the Avatar to find her scowling morosely, arms crossed tightly over her chest when she saw the speaker hurrying towards her through the mass of Acolytes unloading the ship. Tahno hesitated on his way down, wanting to watch and see how the scene unfolded before the Firebender spotted him.

"You're back!" Mako exclaimed, and made to throw his arms around Korra, who deftly knocked him aside with a well-timed air current.

"I'm not here to see you," she said stonily.

Mako gathered his composure, but his expression was still irritated when he turned to face her, back straight and chin high. Tahno thought he looked constipated, but he kept the observation to himself, waiting to see how the man reacted.

"You still don't remember me, huh?" he said in clipped tones.

Korra didn't respond but continued to glower at him morosely.

"Why are you here, then?" Mako prompted. "I figured you'd be back in Republic City with that Wolfbat lapping up the attention from that radio broadcast this morning."

"I'm here avoiding that attention, idiot," Korra snapped. She glanced around to find Tahno, and he nearly laughed at the frustration etched into her face. Mako followed her gaze and turned to stone.

"What's he doing here?" the Firebender demanded hotly, gesturing wildly at Tahno.

"Also avoiding the attention," he replied, swaggering over to stand at Korra's side and sliding an arm around her shoulders. She gingerly plucked it off, but the damage was done. Mako was scowling furiously at Tahno, his eyes locked on the offending limb as though he would like nothing more than to burn it to the bone.

"You need to leave," Mako said icily. "Like, now."

Tahno snorted. "I'm not goin' anywhere, loser," he said, voice low. "She still needs a healer, and unless you've figured out some miraculous way of healing with that fire of yours, I'm the only one that can do it on this island."

"We can contact Kya," Mako insisted. "Just get out of here."

"I don't feel like it," Tahno said airily. "This is a nice place you've got here. I mean, obviously it's not _yours_, since you're a street rat, but-"

Despite his probending reflexes, Tahno would never have been able to dodge or block the stream of fire aimed right at his face had Korra not been on the ball. With an almost lazy flick of her wrist and a subtle movement with her right foot, a spike shot up out of the ground right in front of him, and the fire smacked against it and flared out, leaving a black singed mark on the rock outcropping. She turned to glare at Mako, and with another quick movement on her part, the ground beneath his feet broke and spun, shooting him into the water right beside the ship. Tahno was tempted to freeze the surface over but refrained, guessing that his welcome would become even less warm should he kill a resident of the island. The young man burst out of the sea, spluttering incoherently as he blew water out of his nose and shook his sopping wet hair out of his blazing eyes. He glared at Korra with all the wrath of a vengeful spirit, but did not retaliate. He climbed wordlessly back onto the dock, shooting Tahno a look of deepest loathing, and walked off without another word.

"And the fun begins," Tahno chuckled, sliding his hands into his pockets and strolling after the Firebender uninvited. Korra followed a step behind him, her arms once more folded irately.

This was going to be a long visit.

* * *

Air Temple Island was quite nice, in all honesty. Trees and flowers seemed to pop right out of the stony cliff sides, their bright green leaves standing in stark contrast with the dark gray stone. Birds and insects flew around on brightly-colored wings, pausing to eat some berries from a bush or to delve deep into a certain flower for nectar. The pathway that led through the scenic area were rough cobblestone and a little steep in places, with stairs that almost made visitors wish for a ladder, but the view at the top was very nearly worth the effort it took to get there. The temple was grand and beautiful, with sloping roofs and graceful walls around lovely courtyards full of bright flowers and marble fountains. From the top of the island you could see the brightly-lit shoreline of Republic City on one side and the churning, steely blue waters of the ocean on the other.

Mako led them to the main building in icy silence, but neither Korra nor Tahno was especially bothered by the lack of conversation. At first Tahno did spend some effort to appreciate the scenery, but he quickly grew bored with it and decided to watch Korra appreciate the scenery, which was marginally more entertaining. She was seeing everything for the first time again, and it showed on her amazed little face, but on occasion there would be something that she recognized and she would have to announce it loudly and excitedly, sometimes hopping up and down and pointing. It was funny, but Tahno found that he actually enjoyed watching her get so worked up because she remembered seeing that gazebo there or else remembered trying to get through those spinning gates over there. It was a side of her he didn't usually get to see because she was all serious and focused around him.

"Tenzin's inside," Mako said curtly, pointing at the doors. "He'll tell you to leave too, though."

"Sorry," said Tahno, blinking and looking around. "Did you say something? I have a tough time translating Loser. Not my first language, you see."

A vein started pulsing in Mako's temple, but he remained silent, spinning on his heel and stalking off with the air of an angry mooselion.

"I don't know why I help you," Korra said dryly. "You bring that stuff on yourself."

"Maybe, but you owe me, Uh-vatar," Tahno pointed out. "I _am_ trying to help you, after all."

"Yeah, yeah," she said, waving him off. She gestured to the door, and her lips twitched. "Ladies first?"

Tahno raised an eyebrow, then his arm lashed out around her waist while his other hand caught her wrist. She barely had time to cry out in outrage before he hoisted her over his shoulder kicking and writhing, pounding her fists on his back. Smirking, he carried her inside, using his free hand to close the doors behind him.

True to Mako's word, Tenzin was right inside, pacing anxiously around the main hall. When Tahno entered with Korra, he whirled around and his face broke out in a mixture of relief and irritation and he rushed to the Waterbender's side, pulling Korra away from him so that he could set her on her feet. Tenzin clapped her on the shoulders, leaning down to look her in the eye. She was frowning up at him, her face screwed up in that frustrated-looking expression that Tahno had come to attribute to her fighting to remember something.

"...Tenzin?" she said hesitantly. Tenzin broke out in a smile and pulled Korra into a tight hug.

"I was so worried about you," he said once he pulled back.

Then he glanced over at Tahno, and the younger man remembered that the Air Master's impression of him was not ideal. Still, if he was cowed then, he wouldn't make any progress, so he stared resolutely at the monk, meeting his icy gaze head-on.

"I understand that you have been trying to heal Korra's injury?" Tenzin said unexpectedly. Tahno blinked, surprised.

"Uh...Yeah," he replied cautiously. "She's been staying with me."

"I see," Tenzin said, straightening up and keeping a hand on Korra's shoulder. "And why did you bring her here now?"

Tahno repressed a shudder. "The media got wind that she might be with me," he answered truthfully. "I figured it was best to get out of there before they cornered either us for more drama to spill in their broadcasts or stories or whatever."

Tenzin bowed his head. "Thank you for taking care of Korra. I can offer you a place to stay until this all blows over, if you like."

The Waterbender was becoming more and more confused. Was Tenzin not angry that a cheating Wolfbat was the one that had been keeping his precious Avatar company?

"Tahno," said Tenzin, and though his beard effectively hid his lips, the corners of his eyes crinkled in a small smile. "I don't make it my business to judge people for things that they've done in the past. If you were taking care of Korra, that's all I need to know."

Tahno stared at the man, a strange feeling squeezing his chest. Slowly, the young man bowed his head to the monk.

"Thanks, Master Tenzin," he said roughly. "I'd like to take you up on that offer."

Tenzin nodded. "Very well. I'll show you to a room once I make sure Korra has settled back in."

"Um, Tenzin," Tahno said hastily, "she still doesn't remember everything, so...be careful, I guess?"

The older man chuckled. "Just wait here, young man."

Korra was looking up at Tenzin during the entire transaction, and her lips were curled into a small smile as he led her down a hallway. He was about to turn away when a loud _thump_ echoed back to him, the sound of something heavy falling suddenly on the floor, and when he whipped back around, Tenzin was kneeling beside a shapeless mass. Tahno's heart rate skyrocketed and he dashed down the hall. Sure enough, Korra had collapsed again, but something was very different this time, as evidenced by the panicked look that Tenzin threw him when he crouched down. He was holding her head gingerly with both of his large hands but withdrew one carefully when Tahno was near enough to see.

"Her ear…" Tenzin muttered, his eyes wide and scared.

Tahno didn't respond. He couldn't. His stomach was somewhere near the soles of his feet, and his heart was pounding furiously in his throat. Tenzin's fingers were spotted with something too dark to be water.


	12. Bloodbending

"What is this?" Tenzin demanded. "I thought you said you were healing her!"

The blood that spotted Tenzin's fingers was also present just inside Korra's ear, not from a wound to the appendage but seeping from deeper inside. This was bad. This was very, very bad. Tahno knew what it was because he'd heard healers talk about it amongst themselves; her brain was hemorrhaging, Somewhere in her head, an artery or blood vessel or whatever had ruptured and broken, causing internal bleeding. He knew it to be commonplace among head injuries, but had counted them lucky that she hadn't displayed any symptoms beyond a minor concussion. Why now? She hadn't hit her head again, hadn't done anything to make the damage worse…If she had overexerted herself somehow, then maybe it could have led to such a problem…

"Are you listening to me?!" the air master snarled, jerking Tahno by the shoulder. "Why is she bleeding like this?!"

Still staring, dumbfounded, Tahno tried to articulate a response with what little medicinal knowledge he possessed.

"I think...I'm not sure, but when she encountered Mako...She strained herself a lot, and just now she used her bending for the first time since she got hurt…" Tahno mumbled. "Maybe the strain was too much, on top of her injury…"

"But she's the Avatar!" Tenzin cried, more horrified than angry. "How could she have overexerted herself from _bending_?!"

Tahno shook his head, words failing him. She hadn't said anything, but for this to have even been a possibility, she had to have been enduring agonizing headaches and incredible weakness in her body. Sure, her hands were tremble a little sometimes or she would stumble while walking, but he would never have thought to attribute those to her brain short-circuiting rather than simple vertigo. She should have _told_ him if she was feeling anything like that, because he couldn't very well try to heal her if he didn't even know the extent of her pains.

"She still has a human body," Tahno shrugged hopelessly.

"Can you heal this?" Tenzin wondered.

"I...don't know," he answered honestly, but even as he said it, something caught his eye through the nearest window. He glanced outside and noticed that the moon was beginning to rise, its silvery fullness seeming to dominate the still-lit sky, as of yet neither abandoned by the sun nor occupied by stars.

Waterbenders were at their most powerful beneath the full moon. That fact was as well-known as it was overlooked. There were techniques a Waterbender could only perform at that time, techniques not generally acknowledged or welcomed by the vast majority of society because they were cruel and inhumane. However, as he stared up at the moon, Tahno wondered if maybe those techniques could serve another purpose, a better one.

Quickly he turned back to Tenzin, who was looking at Korra as though completely lost for what to do or how to help her. Thank Yue he had someone as useful and quick-witted as the illustrious Tahno for guidance.

"I have an idea," the Waterbender said without preamble. "Take her to her room."

Tenzin was wise enough not to waste their time with questions, hoisting Korra effortlessly into his arms and all but sprinting down the corridor with Tahno close on his heels. Her door was open, saving them the trouble as they entered.

"What are you going to do?" Tenzin asked as he laid Korra down on her bed.

"Something you probably won't approve of," Tahno said bluntly. "But I think it's our only shot at actually healing her. I should've tried it sooner, but I didn't even think of it."

"What are you-" Tenzin began.

"I'll ask Katara's forgiveness later," Tahno interrupted, and he moved his hands to hover over Korra, closing his eyes and reaching out with that sixth sense.

He felt the waves crashing against the cliffs outside, felt the seawater spray into the air before splattering over the ground. He felt pools of water sitting stagnant outside and beneath the temple, stirred occasionally by a breeze. And he felt the water right beneath his fingers, rushing without pause in small tunnels and canals to keep its host alive. Tenzin's voice faded away from Tahno's awareness as he flexed his hands above that last source of water, the liquid that kept every person walking and talking and living day to day. Beneath a full moon, he could do it easily.

Bloodbending had been outlawed by Katara shortly after Avatar Aang and Fire Lord Zuko founded their hard-won peace, and Tahno fully understood her reasons for that. It was a dangerous practice and a cruel one, taking the free will away from another human and bending that person to the attacker's will. However, it hadn't been given a chance to be explored for any other purposes it might serve. Blood was the life of any person, a substance meant to heal and protect the physical body. If that was the case, then maybe, just maybe, it could be used as an even more powerful healing agent than water.

Tahno latched on to the presence of water inside Korra's body, feeling his way through it to the injuries in her head and sensing them as he never had when trying to heal them with only water. He could sense every rupture, every microscopic tear and bruise that aided her present condition, and began to knit it all back together. Dimly he was aware of Tenzin saying something behind him, but Tahno was too focused to pay the older man any attention. This was working, he could feel it, and he wasn't about to be distracted now.

Sweat began to bead on his brow and roll down his back as he used the blood inside Korra to fix up her body the way it could never have done on its own. It was like he had turned the fluid into needle and thread and was sewing her wounds shut with the care and precision a seamstress might use on a piece of particular elegance.

Minutes to hours the time passed, and when Tahno at last collapsed into the chair at Korra's bedside, the sun had long since gone from the sky and his shirt was stained with sweat. Tenzin had not moved from where he stood when Tahno had begun working, but he did stumble to Korra's side when at last the Waterbender vacated it, saying words that he couldn't quite comprehend in his dazed fatigue. Patching Korra up via Bloodbending had been harder than Tahno would have imagined, but at the same time easier than he had dared hope. Korra's injuries were healed, maybe not perfectly, but with some rest, she should make a full recovery. She would be alright. As to whether or not her memories came as part of the deal, Tahno couldn't say.

"...going to be alright?"

The raven-haired man blinked and looked around. Tenzin's gaze was fixed on him, his expression bordering on frantic.

"Huh?" Tahno said eloquently, not having caught the first part of the air master's query.

"Is she going to be alright?" the man repeated. "Korra. Will she recover?"

"She should," Tahno nodded wearily, leaning back in the chair and closing his eyes. He wouldn't mind some sleep. Bloodbending was, apparently, quite as taxing on the bender as it was on the victim.

"Thank goodness," Tenzin breathed, obviously relieved. "I never would have imagine how much trouble she would be."

Tahno snorted in amusement but said nothing. There was a moment of silence.

"Tahno."

"Mm?"

"Thank you."

"Mm...Anytime," he mumbled hazily.

"If there is any way I could repay you for this…"

"Just one thing," the Waterbender requested.

"Anything."

"Keep Mako out of here for a while."

Tenzin stifled a chuckle and swept out of the room without another word, clearly assuming that Tahno was not up to moving anytime soon. Quite correctly, of course. He found that even had he wanted to, he could not force his eyelids open, and that black, yawning void called sleep dragged him easily into its clutches. He met it with open arms, and was lost for a short time to the real world.

When Tahno woke, he found that a blanket had been draped over him and a pillow had been carefully tucked beneath his neck at some point in the night. There was also an oppressive weight on his lap that revealed itself to be the very large head of Naga, Korra's unusually friendly polarbear dog. Naga's ears perked up when he stirred and she stood up on all fours to sniff his face, her huge, warm tongue licking him chin to forehead and making him splutter incoherently at the wet, slimy sensation. The creature just barked and wagged her tail happily before bounding out of the room.

The Waterbender shook his head after the animal and rose to his feet, setting the unfolded blanket and the pillow on the seat of the chair and stretching languidly, giving a wince as his joints popped and cracked from his less than princely sleeping arrangements. Upon looking around the room, Tahno found that he was quite alone, though the warm and unmade bed suggested that Korra hadn't been gone long.

Working his shoulders gingerly, Tahno strode out of her room and down the hall that led to the main entrance. He could hear voices coming from there, and when he entered, he found a group of people sitting around a table eating breakfast and talking quietly. The chatter died the moment they saw Tahno, but far from shunning him like he expected, everyone immediately moved to open a spot for him amongst them. He took it gratefully, realizing that he was famished when somebody offered him a fresh-baked roll.

"Good morning, Tahno," said Tenzin graciously. Next to him, Pema spared him a warm smile before turning back to her baby.

The Sato girl nodded her head to him in acknowledgement, and the idiot Bolin whom he had sat beside nudged him with his elbow, his mouth too full to speak. Mako was conspicuously absent from the table, leaving Korra on Tahno's immediate left. She neither looked at him nor made any attempt to welcome him to the table, but neither did she seem to reject his presence. She looked very tired, her face pale despite its olive tone and her eyes downcast.

"Mornin'," Tahno responded with a yawn, loading his plate with an assortment of fruits and cheeses, noting as he did that Tenzin clearly meant for Airbenders to remain vegetarians, not even providing eggs for breakfast. Not that it made any difference to him one way or the other.

"I trust you slept well?" the monk continued.

"Surprisingly," he said as he broke a roll in half and applied liberal amounts of what looked like pear jam. "Considering I was in a hard chair all night."

"Didn't Tenzin offer you a bed?" Pema asked, throwing a reproving look at her husband, who balked visibly and tried to stammer a reply.

"I was asleep before he had the chance," Tahno offered. Tenzin threw him a grateful glance.

Silence fell again as the group continued to eat, broken only when Meelo burst into the room demanding that Bolin's fire ferret play with him and returning the instant the boy left. Tahno was just about to force Korra into speaking up when she rose abruptly to her feet, setting her napkin on the table.

"I think I'm gonna go meditate for a while," she said shortly, turning on her heel and striding quickly out of the room.

Tahno stared after her, more than a little confused by her curtness this morning. Was she still in pain? Had she had another altercation with the Firebending brat? If so, what was she giving _him_ the cold shoulder for?

Without a word Tahno rose and made to follow Korra, fully expecting somebody to try and stop him for whatever stupid reasons they might provide. Instead, all he got was a half-joking warning from Bolin that when Korra was in one of her moods, it was best to remain at least an arm's length away and be on alert in case she decided bending him seemed an attractive notion to her.

"I'll keep that in mind," Tahno noted drily. Then he made his way out as well.


	13. In Arm's Reach

Korra certainly didn't look like she was meditating. She was out in the gazebo that she'd pointed at the previous day, leaning over the railing and looking out at Republic City. She hadn't tied her hair back, and the lack of any recent haircut left the strands tangling together in the wind at her mid-back. She had come out here barefoot, but was wearing her own clothes again minus the pelt around her waist. Tahno couldn't believe that she had multiple copies of the same outfit, but then again she had never displayed much fashion sense. Or any fashion sense.

"There a reason you're more cranky than usual, Uh-vatar?" Tahno said breezily, sliding his hands into his pockets as he stepped up to join her. "I'm pretty sure I just saved your life last night. Don't I get a make-out session as thanks?"

"Off switch…" he thought he heard her mutter. Then louder, "No make-out sessions for you, Pretty Boy."

"Oh, the crushing disappointment," he feigned injury. "How will I ever recover from-oh, wait, look at that. I'm fine again."

Her lips curled up with obvious reluctance, but it was a start.

"You look like you're in pain," he noted, addressing her creased brow and crinkled nose. "Thinking again?"

She clicked her teeth and rolled her eyes, but her shoulders relaxed a little.

"I guess," she said broodingly.

He waited for her to elaborate, trusting her need to fill every silence to fill this one, and was rewarded in due time. She really didn't like quiet.

"It's just...Whatever you did last night, it worked," she mumbled. "I remember more or less everything...sort of…"

Tahno's stomach lurched a little, but he managed to keep his apprehension out of his voice.

"Sort of?" he repeated. "What do you mean, you _sort of_ remember?"

She sighed and raked a hand through her hair, wincing as she caught a mass of tangles.

"Well...I remember things happening...I remember being places…" She was speaking very slowly, trying to sift through her confused thoughts even as she voiced them. "But I…I don't feel like they happened _to me_."

"Right…" Tahno was skeptical of this and wondered if maybe Korra was just messing with him. It didn't seem likely that someone could get their memories back but not the feelings that went along with them, did it?

"It's weird," she continued, either not hearing him or just opting to ignore him. "I remember things happening, but it's like I'm watching them happen to something else. I don't feel connected to them at all. I don't feel _anything_."

"So...what?" Tahno prompted when she went no further. "How far does that go, exactly?"

"Huh?"

"Does that apply to Mako? You did remember him, I'm guessing."

Korra looked away from him, and her fingers tightened around her arms.

"Yeah, I remember him," she said in a small voice. "And I think I remember why I ever dated him."

"Huh." Tahno wasn't overly thrilled by the admission, though he figured it really shouldn't have bothered him quite as much as it did. Obviously when she got her memories back she would remember her old flame (No pun intended). That was just common sense. But still…

"But," she continued, and he looked at her sharply. "Like I said, it feels like all those things happened to someone else and I was just watching. I don't...I guess I did like him a while ago, but I don't anymore. All I can think of now is the last couple of days, when I definitely did _not_ like him. That was more or less my first impression of him."

Tahno watched her for a long time after she fell silent, and he thought he might have understood why he was starting to feel strange around Korra, an emotion entirely apart from the lust with which he was so familiar. He had no desire for a one-night fling with the Avatar, but he did want to _be_ with her. He didn't like the idea of being with her for one night and then never seeing her again, except maybe as they passed each other on the street. He enjoyed her fiery attitude and appreciated their easy banter as something entirely genuine rather than a game to get to the bedroom. Maybe it was precisely because Korra had never shown even the slightest interest in him that he felt inexplicably drawn to her, this strange person that didn't care who he was or what he did.

That was how he felt. Maybe there was more, or maybe he was reading too far into things, but in the moment, that was all that mattered. But what about Korra?

"So?"

She looked back at him, frowning. "So?" she echoed.

"So, why are you telling me this?" he asked bluntly. "Out of all the things you could have said, why tell me that? What does it matter to me?"

Her cheeks flooded with color and she cast her gaze downward, where her fingers fumbled clumsily with each other. Tahno raised an eyebrow.

"Because…" she mumbled. Tahno was getting used to being patient, though that didn't mean he enjoyed it. "Because…I didn't want…I mean, you should know…"

"Know what?" he pressed, removing his hands from his pockets and placing them on his hips.

"You should know that…that I…I don't…love him, I guess."

"And why should I know that?" Tahno continued to pressure her, giving no sign that his heart was pounding fiercely in his chest. He wondered if hers was also racing.

"Because you're not a stand-in," she blurted finally, still not looking at him. "I didn't-I don't want…"

"What?" he said, going for that purr he did so well as he reached out with one hand to touch her chin, tilting her face up so that she had no choice but to look him in the eye. Her face was impossibly red.

"I don't want you to think that I'm thinking about him while I'm with you," she said weakly.

"With me?" he echoed, and though his voice was quietly amused, his heart was soaring. "Who said anything about being with me?"

She glowered at him, guessing his game. Tahno expected a punch, a kick, maybe even a little bending action, and started to back away, ready to defend himself against her temper. He thought idly that if the tabloids had been correct about any sort of abusive relationship between Korra and Mako, the abuse would have come from her end, not the Firebender's. She was unlikely to finish a conversation, hostile or otherwise, with words.

Well, that much at least was true.

Her hand lashed out even as Tahno prepared to block it, but instead of a fist flying to collide with his jaw (again), her fingers caught and curled in his shirt, jerking him back toward her and negating the steps he had taken to move away. The action, both strong and unexpected, caused Tahno to stumble and begin to fall. His hands shot out to catch himself and found the wooden railing on either side of Korra, caging her between his arms almost by accident, as their goal had been simply to keep him from falling. However, the most surprising part of all was that, as Tahno had flailed to keep himself from getting a facefull of floor, Korra had used his unbalanced state to pull him down to her level and meet his lips with hers.

Hardly in a position to complain and having somehow regained his footing, Tahno stepped closer of his own accord this time, pressing her back against the latticework wall that reached about as high as her elbows. He slanted his mouth over hers, taking the lead and guiding the less experienced girl to part her lips. She followed his lead, a funny sound escaping her when he nipped carefully at her lower lip. The hand that wasn't curled in his shirt slid up his chest and around to the back of his neck, fingernails catching the shaggy raven hair at his nape.

Tahno's trademark smirk was incredibly absent when he pulled away, heart pounding, and in the early morning light his silver eyes seemed almost like they were glowing when they looked down at Korra, whose cheeks were flushed with color.

"Get it now, Pretty Boy?" she said with a brave attempt at her usual attitude, but her voice came out too breathy to be convincing. He grinned then and leaned in close, touching their foreheads together.

"Get what, Uh-vatar?" he said in a husky undertone. "Did you say something?"

She raised an eyebrow at him.

"Sorry," he said, lips still curled. "I'm not a very good listener. You wanna repeat that?"

Korra's lips twitched, and she leaned in slowly. However, just as his eyes were drifting shut, a sudden gust of wind blew his hair in his face and caused him to stumble to the side, spluttering indignantly.

"You're evil," he accused, but he was grinning as he said it. His long fingers moved to comb through his hair while Korra watched, making no effort to hide her pride or her amusement.

"You really do need an off-switch," she decided. "I wonder if I can make one…"

"Just shout _Mako_ really loud," Tahno suggested. "It'll turn up."

Korra laughed, causing a slight smile to cross Tahno's face.

"What?" she said when she noticed him staring at her. He shrugged and looked away.

"Nothin'," he answered airily. "I just thought it was about time you actually laughed."

Her amusement fell away abruptly to be replaced by blushing surprise, and her gaze flew in search of anything that was not him.

"You still blush easy, though," he noted, grinning broadly at the roses in her cheeks.

"Shut up," she grumbled.

"Whatever you say, Your Highness," he snorted. Then he looked out over the city again, and found a heavy sigh building up in his chest.

"The press is gonna love this," he groaned. Korra made a face.

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it, I guess," she said reasonably, sounding as weary of it all as Tahno felt. "Is there any point in lying low, or should we just get it over with now?"

"I'd suggest putting it out there sooner rather than later," Tahno said. "But first, you should probably talk to your street rat and make sure he's gonna take it like a man and not a little kid."

Korra sighed and folded her arms.

"Yeah, you're probably right," she said heavily, not sounding very excited at the prospect. "I'd better go find him, then."

"Mind doing that on your own?" Tahno wondered off-handedly. She frowned at him.

"Well, no, but why?"

"Well, y'see, I really like my face," he told her seriously. "It's a nice face. And I would really rather it didn't get roughed-up by an ex-boyfriend. Or soon-to-be ex. It just sucks on principle."

Korra rolled her eyes.

"I've never met a bigger narcissist," she informed him, but strode off without forcing him to come along. He looked after her, that almost painful feeling in his chest again, and felt his lips curl into a small, amused small.

"But you love me anyway," he chuckled.


	14. Tahnorra: New Romance on the Rise?

_**TAHNORRA: NEW ROMANCE ON THE RISE?**_

**The rumors of Avatar Korra's rocky relationship with the notorious Fireferret Mako are still going strong, but it looks like there won't be any rumors to add on to their romance, because it has been officially ended. The scene was ugly, as attested to by several witnesses who would prefer to remain anonymous, but both Mako and Korra decided that it was for the best that they split up. There are almost any many theories about the catalyst for their relationship as there are theories on spirits, but throughout a great many of them, a few things have remained remarkably consistent.**

**First: Avatar Korra suffered a bout of amnesia. What caused this temporary memory loss is up for debate, but it is understood that it definitely transpired, leaving her to wonder who the hell that stranger with the black hair and the bad attitude was. They had a very public altercation that made very clear that she had no recollection whatsoever of her supposedly worried boyfriend, and that her "first impression" of him was hardly complementary. It's no surprise either, if reports on his behavior are accurate. He was reportedly seen shouting her down, and when that didn't bring about his desired effect, Mako switched to a condescending concern that our Avatar promptly brushed aside. Leaving such an impression on your girlfriend who doesn't remember you is kind of like bending metal pellets into your own foot. But that's not the end of our facts list.**

**Another thing we are sure of is that during the time Avatar Korra had amnesia, she was staying with the legendary playboy Tahno of the Wolfbats. His full involvement, as divulged long after we had learned that he had opened his home to the damsel in distress, centered around healing an injury Korra had sustained and enjoying the rage Mako displayed when he saw the two of them together. Considering the timing, it's logical to assume that the injury he was healing was a head wound that she had sustained that would affect her memory, but that has yet to be confirmed as fact.**

**Finally, it is now confirmed that, on top of Korra striking out with Mako, Tahno has stepped up to bat. A most unlikely couple, considering the tension between the two during Probending when they had been on opposing teams, but it's possible that even Tahno could set aside team rivalries once he left the arena. It must be said, too, that the two of them are rather similar and do have unique ways of complementing one another. The fiery, passionate Avatar has seemed to cool off in the presence of the ever-calm and collected ex-Wolfbat, though they still exchange heated words and participate in battles of wit. Whether this is the sign of a healthy relationship or the beginning of the end has yet to be known, but we can only hope that this will turn out better in the long run than the inter-team-relationship that preceded it.**

* * *

"They actually did it," Tahno groaned, tossing the paper onto his coffee table and groaning irately. "They actually used that title. I was _joking_!"

A week had passed since Korra faced off with the media, Tahno at her shoulder while she explained everything as patiently as she could despite the rude and sometimes obscene demands made of her. Tahno was quite used to that kind of publicity already, but Korra was not, and it had been amusing to watch as she fought to keep a level head and answer their questions as clearly as possible. He tried to reason with her that, if she had managed to clear the air with Mako without having to bend him into oblivion, dealing with the press should be a piece of cake, but she wouldn't hear of it, arguing that dealing with the media was like dealing with a hundred of Mako. He conceded her point.

Tahno had returned to his flat in Republic City once the reporters and the broadcasters confirmed the "Tahnorra" relationship, leaving them no reason to pester him in his home, and things had been relatively normal. Well, at least when he was alone. However, he was very rarely alone anymore, and he was surprised by how happy that made him. When he was in the Wolfbats, he had been surrounded constantly by adoring fans and women in perpetual heat, by the media and his teammates, but he felt inexplicably apart from them even so, and when he returned to his home on the uncommon occasion when there was not at least one woman on his arm, he found that he felt curiously lonely. He'd never had the opportunity to actually grow attached to a person before, because his fans cycled through the way the moon did, that inconstant moon that never stayed long enough for a person to get to know. Everyone was a stranger, just one massive stranger with no name and no face, a body that showered insincere praise over him without even understanding what it was saying. No matter how many people he fit under his arms and around his table, he'd always felt alone.

It wasn't like that anymore. Korra came by his flat almost every day, whether to just say hi before hurrying along to whatever Avatar duties awaited her or to hang around and waste time she couldn't really afford to waste keeping him company. She showed honest interest in what he had to say, made it very clear that she would hardly start worshipping the ground he walked on, and shared loud, long laughter with him. No one had actually cared what he'd had to say, not that he'd had much to say at all, and certainly nobody had shared such genuine laughter with him, cackling until they snorted louder than a platypus bear. It was nice, the way Korra effortlessly chased away that lonely feeling he'd never truly registered just by being herself around him. Now, even when she wasn't at his side, he didn't feel alone.

"They're running out of originality if I can predict their article titles," he said wearily.

"Never thought you could come up with something so cheesy," Korra noted, looking at the paper upside-down from across the table. "You hiding some secret wish to be a reporter yourself, Pretty Boy?"

"Dream on, Uh-vatar," Tahno said airily. "You should be fully aware that I don't care what happens outside of my own charmed life."

"Should I take that as a compliment?" Korra wondered, eyebrow raised. Tahno's lips curved.

"Take it how you want to," he said with a shrug. "It's more fun watching you think about it."

She pouted and crossed her arms sulkily over her chest. She was more or less back to normal, having grudgingly taken his advice on relaxing and not doing anything strenuous for a few days just in case her injury flared up again. He'd run over her head a couple of times with some water to be sure and found that she was good as new, so he had released her from his commanded rest.

"I'm glad it worked," Tahno muttered under his breath. He shuddered to think of what might have happened to Korra had that little idea not presented itself the night she collapsed in the temple, or if said idea hadn't had the desired effect. He was just working off a hunch, after all.

"Glad what worked?" Korra mumbled idly as she reached for the paper, curiosity getting the better of her. She always wanted to know what was being said about her.

Tahno blinked.

_Shit. Did I say that out loud?_ he thought, and cursed himself again. Tenzin had overlooked his use of the forbidden bending, but he wasn't so sure that Korra would, especially with the plethora of bad experiences she'd had with it.

"Uh-well-I'm glad the healing-" Tahno spluttered, racking his brains furiously for a hasty explanation and coming up unusually blank. What was is about her that just killed his silver tongue?

Korra's eyes sparked with amusement and she set the paper down on her lap. Her hair was tied back as per usual, and she'd cut it recently too, so it curled slightly now that it wasn't quite so heavy. A few twisted strands were hanging in her face where they hadn't quite made it into her wolftails, distracting Tahno from her electric blue gaze. He reached out almost absently to brush the hair out of her eyes, his fingertips lingering on her skin and causing her cheeks to darken as his touch trailed down the side of her face and reluctantly pulled away. The color in her cheeks, which usually made him feel too warm, instead left him cold with anxiety. He couldn't hide it from her forever, and something told him that he would be far worse off if he tried to. So, steeling himself, Tahno took a deep, controlled breath and let it out slowly.

"Korra, about that," Tahno said. "I…I didn't…"

"You didn't use Waterbending."

Time stood still. Tahno's eyes widened as he looked into Korra's, expecting to see judgement or accusation and finding only calm. Not the calm before the storm, which he had seen on her face plenty of times, but a perfect poise that said she wasn't grasping at straws and was already confident she knew the story.

"I…" Tahno said, but found that his voice came out barely audible. He cleared his throat and tried again. "How did you…?"

"Whatever happened, I know that Waterbending wasn't enough to fix it," Korra said, her own voice turning solemn. "I had a headache so bad I was seeing red all day, and I'd nearly passed out in the shower. That's why I yelled at you when you barged in."

Tahno couldn't stop the smirk that crossed his lips.

"That's why?" he chuckled. "You didn't mind that I was walking in knowing full well that you were stark naked?"

Korra, as expected, blushed to the roots of her dark hair.

"Well, that too," she admitted. "But anyway, something was really different that day, and running to the docks just made it worse. After I used my bending to put Mako in his place…My head felt like it was splitting open. There was no way your Waterbending-no offense-could've helped me like that. I passed out...in the hallway, I think?"

Tahno nodded, and she continued.

"And when I woke up, I felt fine. I mean, I felt really groggy, and there was this throbbing behind my eyes, but nothing like it had been before. I…well, I figured I knew what you did."

Tahno was prepared for condemnation or rejection, not for patience and understanding. He certainly hadn't thought that she would _smile_ at him knowing that he'd brazenly broke the law that Katara, Korra's mentor, had put in place to ban all Bloodbending.

"Tahno?" Korra said, her smile slipping at the stunned expression on his face. "What's wrong?"

Tahno closed his eyes and found another smile playing on his lips. He shook his head.

"I don't get you at all, Uh-vatar," he sighed. "You get mad for a little cheating in the ring, but break the law, and you're totally cool with it. You're a strange woman."

"Tahno…" Korra sighed. "You used Bloodbending for _healing_. I didn't even know that was possible. If Katara had considered that, she might not have been so quick to outlaw it in the first place. What you did was amazing. There's no way I could be mad at you for probably saving my life."

The Waterbender chuckled and shook his head again, reaching out to catch Korra's small hand with his and wrapping his fingers completely around.

"I wonder about you, y'know," Tahno muttered, almost to himself. "One second you're this immature brat prone to emotional outbursts that sulks when something doesn't go your way, and the next you're some kind of mature adult. How do you do that?"

Her smile grew and she gave a conspiratorial wink.

"It's an Avatar secret," she teased.

He raised an eyebrow at her.

"And here I thought I knew all your secrets," he purred, leaning forward over the table.

"Oh, please," Korra scoffed, still smirking. He tugged on her hand, pulling her over until she was leaning inches away from him.

"I guess this means my real challenge has started then, doesn't it?" he said softly.

"Bring it on, Pretty Boy," she replied, then closed the remaining distance to press their lips together.

She was a good kisser. There was one secret very few people knew.


	15. The Double-Standard

**_I'm so sorry this chapter is late! I was having major technological issues this weekend! I'm so so sorry!_**

"Bro, I get that it sucks, but you really need to let it go," Bolin said heavily while Pabu climbed over his shoulders and twined around his arms, clearly bored.

Mako was clenching his fists the way he did when he was irritated, looking out over the docks from the top of Air Temple Island. The acolytes were unloading the ship, and Korra was helping them, moving ten massive crates at a time with Airbending while her new sidekick carried them the old fashioned way. He still couldn't believe that Tahno was actually stooping so low as to participate in manual labor, but then Korra had always been pretty persuasive when she wanted something. That, paired with the fact that she would beat you up until you agreed with her, obviously had something to do with the ex-Wolfbat's uncharacteristic compliance.

"I don't get what she sees in him!" Mako grumbled, flexing his fingers. "Up until a couple months ago she hated the guy! He's a cheat and an asshole to boot."

"Actually, since that incident with Amon, Tahno's mellowed out a lot," Bolin said hesitantly, wary of pissing off his brother even more. "I mean, he's still pretty cocky, but he's actually kind of nice."

"Seriously?!" Mako exclaimed, rounding on his brother. "How could you say that? People don't just pull a one-eighty one day after a lifetime of being the cancer of society."

"We did…" the younger boy mumbled, looking away.

That brought Mako up short. The brothers had gotten off to a pretty rough start. After their parents had been killed and they were forced to live on the streets, they'd done the easiest thing they could to survive. They had joined up with the Triple Threats, a crime syndicate in the heart of Republic City, doing whatever they had to do to get by, be it grunt work or running numbers. People got hurt, things were stolen, and property destroyed, and the boys had been entirely aware of what they were doing, but they didn't leave. It wasn't until years later that the two of them broke away to pursue Probending, a much more admirable way to make a living than doing the dirty work for gangs.

"That-that's totally different," Mako spluttered indignantly. "We didn't have a _choice_. We did what we had to do to survive. _He's_ just a prick for the sake of being a prick, and that doesn't just go away."

Bolin sighed and looked to Pabu for support, who chattered animatedly before continuing to wind around the Earthbender's torso.

"We still changed though, Mako," the green-eyed boy tried. "If we could, why can't Tahno? I think he deserves a chance."

"Sure. Let's just give Hiroshi another chance too, and Amon," Mako said sarcastically. "In fact, let's give all the equalists a second chance and just pray something bad doesn't happen!"

His brother just looked at him wearily and shook his head.

"You just don't like Tahno because Korra chose him," the boy said bluntly. "That's not fair. That's stupid."

"That-I-He-" Mako fumbled, staring at his brother and wanting to contradict him, heat rising in his face when he just couldn't quite get the words out. He wasn't that petty. He wouldn't hate someone just because his girlfriend chose them over him. That was totally ridiculous! It was, wasn't it?

Bolin saw Mako's hesitation and pressed his advantage.

"You know it's true, bro," he said. "If you just think about Tahno instead of Korra-and-Tahno, can you really say that he's the same guy we were up against in the ring?"

Mako scowled at his little brother, but he reluctantly tried to think about it, wondering if maybe, just maybe, Bolin was right. If Tahno wasn't dating Korra, would he hate the man so much? His immediate answer was _yes_, but the longer he thought, the less sure he became. Starting with the glaringly obvious, Tahno had healed Korra's injury of his own free will when he could have dumped her off at any in-town healer. He had opened his home to her while she tried to recover, and he had looked after her during that time. Furthermore, Tahno had been staying well out of any form of media; no wild parties busted in the magazines, no abuse of illegal substances on the radio, not even so much as a rumor of his old playboy habits. For all intents and purposes, it was as though Tahno had dropped off the face of the earth for all the publicity he'd been getting. On top of that, when the man had lost his bending, he'd become a shell of himself, withdrawing from the world, and when Korra had returned to draw him back out, he was as broken a man as Mako had ever seen. When Korra had returned his bending, Mako had expected to see the return of the bad boy Wolfbat, but what he saw instead was a joyful human being regaining the thing he'd cherished most and lost, and in that instant Mako had not felt an ounce of anger or disgust. He felt only glad that the man had recovered his precious gift.

"See?" Bolin said smugly when Mako's face fell slack.

"Shut up," his brother grumbled, but he didn't dispute the fact any longer. Yes, Tahno had changed. A lot, and in some pretty rough ways. Just like the two of them had done.

The Firebender heaved a great sigh and shoved his hands in his pockets, resolving to confront Tahno one last time. This time, however, he intended to be the mature one.

"See you, Bo," Mako said curtly, and took the stairs three at a time on the way down before his brother had a chance to reply.

By the time he reached the docks, the ship had already been entirely unloaded and was firmly anchored in place until the next time she would be needed, and Tahno was leaning back casually against a stack of crates, his silver eyes following the dark-skinned young woman darting between towers of supplies to speak with acolytes, asking if they needed anymore help. When Mako approached him, his breathing a little too heavy from running down all those stairs, Tahno's gaze flicked to him and his thin eyebrows arched impressively, lips curling into a smirk.

"To what do I owe the honor?" Tahno mocked, but his expression was curious.

"I don't know what kind of game you think you're playing with Korra," Mako started, that familiar hot anger flaring in his chest after seeing the way Tahno was watching the Avatar. "But if you're intentions are anything other than what you say they are, I'll burn you to a crisp where you stand."

Tahno, far from looking intimidated or even mildly concerned, grinned and spread his arms out wide.

"As if you could take me, little Fireferret," he jeered, then jabbed a thumb in Korra's direction. "She's the only reason you guys _might_ have beat me in the ring."

"Because you cheat!" Mako snapped, taking the bait and realizing too late that he'd done as Tahno wanted. In a brave attempt to regain his dignity, he straightened up and tried to level his voice. "If you're not one hundred percent serious about her-"

"You already made your threat, street rat," said Tahno, and though his smile never slipped, his voice hardened by a fraction. "And here's my counter offer. If you ever harass her again, for me or any other reason, I will toss you in the sea, freeze the surface over, and watch with a smile on my face as you try to break the ice with your bare hands."

Mako scowled, but a shadow passed over his eyes, the very briefest wonder as to whether or not Tahno was serious. He wouldn't put it past the Waterbender to try something like that, if he was sufficiently provoked. In the next instant his expression cleared, but not before Tahno had caught the hesitation there and smirked victoriously at having shaken the hot head.

"Now run along," the raven-haired man continued, making a shooing motion. "I'm sure there are a dozen dirty little rats in Republic City who would love the chance to meet an alley cat."

Mako scowled but this time refused to rise to the bait. Instead he crossed his arms and glared Tahno full in the face, his amber eyes blazing.

"You'd better treat her like a queen," he said cleanly. "Because if you don't, you'll be praying to Yue that I get to you before she does."

"Duly noted," Tahno acknowledged, giving Mako a deep and mocking bow. Mako clicked his teeth and turned on his heel, striding quickly away before Korra saw him and entered one of her moods. The whole walk to the stairs, he could feel those pale eyes burning holes into the back of his head, but he refused to turn around and look, his pride not ready to take any more hits.

* * *

The sky was dark, clouds covering the moon and stars to leave an empty black canvas stretching above them as far as the eye could see, but it wasn't ominous or cold. It was a soft darkness, a warm shadow that wrapped around the city like a mother's embrace and made the glow from the streetlamps closer and cozier. Few people took the time to appreciate the unusual ambience, too busy hurrying along the asphalt street with their coats wrapped tightly around their shoulders and their scarves knotted around their faces until only their gleaming eyes were visible.

However, in the Republic City park, there were a couple of people who were basking in the unusually peaceful atmosphere. A long, lean young man was lounging across a park bench and looking for all the world like he was posing for an artist. One arm was slung carelessly over his bent knee, but his other arm hung over the side of the bench, where a young woman was fiddling with his long, slender fingers.

"They're just hands, Uh-vatar," Tahno said, bemused as she continued to bend his fingers this way and that, turning his palm up toward the sky and then sideways, toward her face. "You have them too, you know."

"But they're _huge_," Korra said, using her own fingers to spread his digits apart. "How is that even possible? Are you sure you're human?"

"Pretty sure, yeah," he chuckled, then he grasped Korra's hand, their fingers still interlocked, and bumped her forehead. She retaliated by jerking his hand out and, as a result, pulling unceremoniously from the bench to land on her back.

"Ouch! Get off!" she exclaimed, bucking underneath him and rolling him into the dirt. He groaned as he pushed himself into a sitting position, glowering balefully at her.

"You know, you're the one that made me fall on you," he pointed out. "Don't get so mad because you pulled me on top of you. Most girls would have killed to be in that position."

Korra just stuck her tongue out at him and then reached out to capture his hand again, as if determined to find some evidence that its size was due to something supernatural and inhuman. He let her take it without a fight, rolling his eyes at her interest.

"You know what they say about guys with big hands, right?" Tahno said, a mischievous smirk curving his lips.

She frowned at him suspiciously. "...What?"

He wiggled his fingers in her hand. "They have big gloves, of course."

Her frown deepened. "So?"

Tahno rolled his eyes, his grin growing.

"Nothing, Uh-vatar. Nothing at all."

"I'm missing something, aren't I?" she wondered, her lip jutting out in a pout.

"You might be," Tahno shrugged. "Or maybe you just don't appreciate my humor."

"Well, _that_ much is definitely true," Korra said bluntly. "But I feel like there was an innuendo in there somewhere."

"Oh, Uh-vatar," Tahno laughed, pulling her close and catching her head with his arm so that she couldn't squirm away. "You're getting better if you can sense the dirty jokes."

"Everything you say is a joke," she pointed out, trying to worm out of his hold. He didn't release her and leaned down so that he could look her in the eyes.

"Well, actions speak louder than words, right?" he wondered. "If everything I say is a joke, what's this?"

He pressed a quick, chaste kiss against her cheek. Then another one on her forehead. Then her nose. Then her chin. His breath ghosted over her lips, but when she leaned in he pulled back, smiling slightly. She raised her eyebrows at him, pouting again.

"You gonna answer me, Uh-vatar?" he prompted.

"Answer you? You haven't asked a real question yet," she protested.

"What do you think this is?" Tahno said, his voice sinking to a purr that was nearly inaudible. "Is what I'm doing here a joke?"

"Right here, right this second?" Korra mused. "It kinda feels like it, yeah."

He snorted.

"Okay, I'll give you that," he conceded, brushing his raven hair out of his face. "I'll rephrase the question. Are _we_ a joke? Or do you think I'm serious about you?"

Amazingly enough, Korra didn't even hesitate.

"I think you're as serious as you can be," she replied smoothly. "You healed me when I got injured _and_ put up with Mako during that. Granted, it _was_ your fault I got hurt in the first place. But I don't think you're messing around."

Tahno's smile fell as he looked at her. Her eyes were bright with conviction, her eyebrows raised in their nearly permanent state of challenge, and her hand was still holding his strongly. She actually believed what she was saying. She really did believe in him.

"You're something else," he said, shaking his head slightly. "You know that?"

"Deal with it," she said succinctly. This time, when she leaned in, Tahno didn't resist.


	16. Alone Together

Days come. Days go. The sun rises and then it sets, and the stars show themselves around the moon, and then they vanish again. There are good days and there are bad days, and how you get through either is up to you, but there are ways to make the good days great, and there are ways to handle the bad days without allowing them to break you down. One foolproof way to handle both days as they come is to surround yourself with people you love, people that make you feel like anything is possible and nothing is stronger than your own willpower.

Korra understood that better than ever now that she had waded out of an unhealthy relationship and accidentally fallen into one that made every day an adventure. Without the negativity disguised as a moody Firebender, her days had become brighter and happier, and she found that she could even handle the media with a smile on her face more often because she didn't have someone behind the scenes parroting all of the questions being asked behind cameras and microphones. No, behind the scenes, she had someone that told her what she needed to hear and made her laugh about it afterwards, someone that understood how frustrating the reporters could be and who was ready to support her in ways that nobody had supported him through the same kind of drama. He might be annoying at times, he might not always be the most compassionate, but he was there for her when it counted, and it was obvious how hard he was trying.

"I'm a little surprised, honestly."

Bolin looked up at Asami, who was looking out the window of the temple with an almost bemused expression on her beautiful face. He followed her gaze and felt his lips twitch up in a small smile. Korra and Tahno were sparring in the square, large basins of water surrounding their small arena just ready for use.

"Why? Because Tahno's holding his own?" Bolin chuckled. It was true. Though Korra did seem to have the upper hand, they had been sparring for a while now, and Tahno was keeping up pretty impressively.

"No, not that," Asami laughed. "It's just...I don't know. I just never really thought that they would last this long, but it's been five months already."

"I know what you mean," Bolin agreed. "But I think they're enough alike that, even if they don't always get along, they fit pretty well together. Kinda like puzzle pieces with different patterns that just happen to fit together. If that makes any sense."

Asami frowned speculatively, then gave an elegant shrug.

"Makes as much sense as anything else," she told him. "Considering _they_ don't make sense at all."

Bolin chuckled, then went back to playing with Pabu.

"I'm actually kind of shocked that Mako hasn't attacked Tahno, to be honest," the younger of the brothers admitted.

"Well, it's not like it would earn him any points with Korra," Asami pointed out. "I'm sure he knows that. He doesn't want to fall from grace any further than he has already. He's walking on eggshells already, and going at Korra's new boyfriend wouldn't be the smartest move."

"True enough," the Earthbender said.

Anything else they might have said was cut short by a loud _thump_ from outside. It sounded as though something heavy had hit the wall with impressive velocity, and Bolin and Asami both exchanged wordless looks of amusement, already knowing who was without a doubt sitting grumpily on the ground right where he had fallen. A glance out the window confirmed their suspicions. Korra was laughing raucously in the center of the ring, clutching her stomach as tears poured from her eyes, and the top of Tahno's head could just be seen from the angle they had, the raven hair that he loved so dearly sticking up in odd places and in general looking a complete disaster.

Laughing almost as loudly as Korra, Bolin tapped the glass of the window and gave Korra a thumbs-up when she looked at him. She grinned broadly and returned the gesture, but it was interrupted when a stream of water blasted her full in the face, leaving her sopping wet and spluttering indignantly. Tahno rose calmly to his feet and brushed his clothes off, running a few fingers through his hair to tame it once more. A smug little smirk curved the corners of his lips. Korra scowled, and they were back at it, more ferocious than ever.

"Yeah, they were made for each other," Asami giggled. "Well, I gotta go. The company needs me."

"See ya later, Asami," said Bolin, waving after her.

Once she had gone, the young man looked out the window again and smiled. Those two were quite unique, and if they hadn't found each other, Bolin felt that they would have remained alone in their own little world despite the people that surrounded them. His smile grew. Well, now they could be alone together. What a paradox that was.

**_That's the end! Thank you so much for reading and reviewing! It means a lot to me that so many of you stuck with the story til the end! Don't forget to review! I love hearing what you all think_**


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